The number of workers who went on strike in Britain last year fell to the lowest level since the 1890s, when Queen Victoria was on the throne.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show 33,000 workers were involved in labour disputes in 2017, down from 154,000 a year earlier. This is the lowest number since records began in 1893, the year of Britain’s first national coal strikes, when the figure was 634,000.
While the previous record low came in 2015, when 81,000 workers went out on strike, there have only been four other occasions over the past 120 years when fewer than 100,000 employees went on strike.
The latest figures are likely to stoke renewed debate over the role of unions in Britain amid a government crackdown, at a time when workers are coming under increasing financial pressure.
With average pay yet to recover to levels before the financial crisis a decade ago, workers are going through the worst period for wage growth since the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815 – well before the labour dispute records began. The use of zero-hours contracts and the rise of the gig economy has also fuelled fears over a decline in working conditions in recent years.
The ONS’ senior statistician David Freeman said: “This is a stark contrast to the levels seen when the miners went on strike in the 1970s and 1980s, and the even greater levels of industrial action in the 1910s and 1920s.”
While the number of workers involved in labour disputes has reached a record low, the number of days lost to industrial action did not set a record. There were 276,000 working days lost because of labour disputes in 2017, the sixth lowest annual total since records began in 1891.
The highest numbers of people going on strike came during the late 1970s, with a peak of more than 4.6 million in 1979, around the time of the winter of discontent. Successive governments have since curbed the power of trade unions, kickstarted by Margaret Thatcher after the industrial strife of the 70s, when blackouts and the three-day week were triggered by striking coal miners.
Since then, the number of people counted as members of a trade union has fallen to around six million, down from a peak of more than 13 million in 1979.
Some pockets of union strength remain, reflected in the regional breakdown and industry group data for labour stoppages. The transport and storage sector lost the most working days to disputes last year, while London had the highest rate of days lost per 1,000 employees, which could reflect disputes on the undeground and the railways.
Many economists fear weak wage growth since the 2008 banking crisis has been exacerbated by the waning power of labour unions, arguing that workers are less able to demand better pay and conditions despite record-low levels of unemployment.
They include the chief economist at the Bank of England, Andy Haldane, who has warned the lack of wage growth shows the British economy had gone “back to the future” to the days before the Industrial Revolution.
Hannah Reed of the TUC, the unions umbrella group, said: “Strikes are always a last resort for union members but it’s clear that many workers are fed up of years of paltry pay rises.”