Long-running strikes by workers on Britain’s rail network have helped push industrial action in the UK’s private sector to its highest level for more than 10 years, according to research.
Some 122,000 working days were lost through strikes in the private sector between January and July, analysis of Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures by the Press Association has shown.
This is already higher than the total recorded for each full calendar year since 2004.
And with more strikes about to hit four rail companies, the London Underground and Thomas Cook flights, the number for 2017 will almost certainly rise further.
The ONS figures show that the total for January to July 2017, 122,000, is already more than double the equivalent figure for January to July 2016 (51,000). The comparable figure for the whole of 2004 is 165,000 - and given the current scale of disruption, this number could be exceeded before 2017 is over.
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