Workers are striking less often than ever before.

New figures have revealed the number of industrial disputes leading to strike action fell to a record low of 133 last year.

The number of working days lost because of industrial strife was just under half a million, compared with 1.3 million in 2002.

The number of working days lost through disputes averaged 660,000 in the Nineties, 7.2 million in the Eighties and 12.9 million in the Seventies. About 150,000 workers were involved in disputes last year, compared with almost a million in 2002, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Thursday June 03, 2004