Decline In Strike Activity Notes

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Political and Sociological Aspects of Economics Supervision 04

Essay Why did strike activities in Britain decline so substantially in the 1980s and 1990s?

The 1970s were the peak of strike activities in Britain, with 12.9 million working days 
lost in the period 1970­79. The next two decades have witnessed a marked decline in 
strike activity: From 1980­89, the number of lost working days fell to 7.2 million, and 
in the period 1990­96, this number reached only 0.37 million, indicating a further fall 
in strike activity.

 Furthermore, in contrast to the strike record in the 70s, strikes in the  
80s and 90s almost disappeared from the private sector and were virtually confined 
to the public sector. 

One of the reasons for the decline in strike activity can be found in the legislation of 
the Thatcher government in the 1980s. The government outlawed secondary action, 
which restricted strike action to the employer with whom the trade union was in 
dispute. It also banned strikes conducted for political reason and regulated picketing 
by limiting the number of people taking part. Even more important, the Thatcher 
government introduced compulsory secret ballots for strike action. This was in 
contrast to previous customs, where the decision for or against strikes were made by 
raising hands. All these measures limited the legal opportunities for strikes and made 
them more costly and harder to conduct. In addition, the new legislations made trade 
unions legally accountable for actions taken in their name. It enabled unions to 
restore control and reduce the number of unofficial strikes, which were a major 
source of the growth in strike activity in the 60s and 70s.

 Besides, the introduction of  
secret ballots for strike action could also act as strike preventing measure. If a strike 
ballots goes in favour of a strike, employers willing to avoid industrial action often 
make new offers, which help to settle the dispute peacefully. Furthermore, new 

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