Strike and lockout statistics

Figures on strikes and lockouts are not available for all European countries and most data is at least twelve months old. Some countries, such as France and the Russian Federation, publish figures many years after they have been gathered - whilst others, such as Estonia, only publish data from time to time.

The only statistic that allows valid international comparisons to be made is 'working days lost per 1,000 employees'. However, interpreting strike and lockout statistics is fraught with difficulties. Not all disputes are accurately reported, certain forms of picketing, 'go slow' or 'work to rule' actions are not included in strike statistics (even though they may be key elements in a labour dispute) and 'token' or unofficial actions may also be excluded. Country data for a single year can be substantially inflated by a dispute in a single major industry, even though the rest of the economy is largely unaffected. One-day general strikes can also have a big impact, especially if there is very little other strike activity apart from the single day of action.

When making comparisons over time it should be noted that unionisation has fallen sharply within most European countries over the last two decades. For this reason, any upward trend in strike activity could represent a sharper rise in militancy than the bare statistics would suggest. Likewise, the recording of low overall strike activity in some countries may be largely due to low levels of unionisation.

KEY

* Average for the last three available years (2004-6 in most cases) rounded to nearest integer.

**Highest annual working days lost/1000 divided by the second lowest level of working days lost/1000 in the last 10 available years (provided lower figure is above 0).

© FedEE Services Ltd 2008

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