Strike days drop by almost two thirds during Labour’s first year in power

The number of working days lost to strike action plummeted by almost two thirds during Labour’s first year in power. This is according to new analysis from the GMB union.

The 12 months leading up to July 2024, when Labour won power, saw 1,406,000 working days of strikes.

During the year following Labour’s win, there were 559,000, a huge drop of more than 60%.

The GMB will discuss the figures, which come from analysis of Office of National Statistics data, at its annual congress in Blackpool.

Lifting the wages of millions of low paid workers and improvements to employment rights, such as day one sick pay, help explain the drop, the union said.

Ross Holden, GMB head of research and policy, said:

Workers go on strike when work doesn’t pay and bad bosses don’t listen.

It’s no wonder we saw the biggest strike disruption in decades under the Tories who took the side of bad bosses and left our economy in chaos.

This drop in strike days shows that employers have nothing to fear in Labour’s plan to Make Work Pay. It must be delivered in full.

Featured image via Leon Neal / Getty Images