N.Z. sixth on table of works strikes

Press, 28 July 1986, Page 36

N.Z. sixth on table of works strikes

By

ROBIN CHARTERIS,

in London

New Zealand had the sixth-worst workers’ strike record in the world in 1984, according to a British survey. Because of its coalminers’ dispute, Britain headed the table of most strikes, losing 1280 days for, every 1000 employees in the nation’s workforce. New Zealand’s figure was 400, worse than Canada (390) and Australia (240).

Second worst after Britain was Spain (890), followed by Finland (750), Italy (610), Ireland (470) and New Zealand.

Jointly at the top of the table for the fewest days lost were Sweden and Japan (10 days each), followed by Norway dnd Denmark (60 each), France (80), the United States (90), and Portugal (100). The survey, published by Britain’s Department of the Environment, shows that five strike days lost out of six in 1984 in Britain were caused by the coalminers* strike. If that strike was left out of calculations, Britain’s record was eighth best at 220 days lost for each 1000 workers. In the survey, the department points out that each country collects its figures differently. Some include all disputes, others exclude all but the large ones or those lasting longer than 10 days. Figures are not available for all countries. Switzerland, for example, which has very few strikes, has published no figures since 1976, when only 10 days a thousand employees were lost. Provisional figures published show that, after the settlement of the miners’ strike, Britain’s figure for 1985 is expected to drop to 105 days, the lowest yearly total since 1967.