Days lost to industrial action surges

A significant increase in the number of days lost to industrial disputes was recorded last year by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

It was still a good year for industrial peace, however, figures published by the CSO yesterday confirm.

They show that 16 industrial disputes took place last year, resulting in the loss of 26,670 days. This compares with the 20,784 days lost in 2004 when there were just nine industrial disputes.

Nevertheless, the figures for last year continue a trend begun in 2002 when the number of disputes, and days lost as a result, sharply declined.

Last year would have been better were it not for disputes including that at Irish Ferries resulting in the loss of 22,593 days.This was more than five times the number of days lost in the first nine months of the year.

Unsurprisingly, given the Irish Ferries dispute and a strike at An Post, the transport, storage and communications sector was responsible for 81 per cent of the days lost.

A total of 1,215 workers in this sector were involved in disputes, causing the loss of 21,653 days.

A strike by 1,000 ESB workers pushed the electricity, gas and water supply sector into second place, on 2,143 days lost. Close to 1,000 days were lost in manufacturing, 881 in construction and 552 in agriculture, forestry and mining.

There were no disputes last year in four sectors: hotels and restaurants, public administration and defence, education and health and social work.

The overall figures were much healthier than those recorded in the late 1990s and the opening years of this century. In 1999, for example, more than 215,000 days were lost to industrial disputes, followed by 97,046 in 2000 and 114,613 in 2001.