Developments in industrial action - 1998-2002

This record reviews developments in industrial action across the European Union - plus Norway, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia - over 1998-2002. We find considerable differences between the countries in terms of the amount of industrial action, though levels are generally low in historical terms. Transport and communications, followed closely by industry/manufacturing (with metalworking particularly prominent) are the sectors most prone to conflict, followed by the broad public sector (notably health/social work and education). The most common cause of industrial action is disputes over pay.

Industrial action - strikes, lock-outs etc - is one of the most high-profile aspects of industrial relations, not least in terms of media coverage and public impact and attention. It is seen in some quarters as an important indicator of whether or not industrial relations systems are functioning well, with some viewing industrial action as a sign that a system is malfunctioning, and others regarding it as a relatively normal feature of a healthy and well-functioning system. In June 2001, the European Commission issued a Communication on Employment and social policies: a framework for investing in quality. This document suggests ways of promoting 'quality' in employment and social policy and includes a set of proposed indicators for measuring such quality. One of the indicators listed for 'social dialogue and worker involvement' is 'working days lost in industrial disputes'.

The aim of this report from the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO), based on contributions from its national centres, is to provide a broad, general indication of trends in industrial action over the five-year period 1998-2002 within the EU Member States, Norway and, for the first time, three of the candidate countries which are to join the EU in 2004 - Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

Industrial action is an area where international comparisons are notoriously difficult. This is largely because the way in which statistics are produced differs greatly between countries, with the definition of the industrial action recorded varying considerably, and the data being collected by a variety of official and other bodies. For example, criteria for inclusion in the statistics may vary in terms of: the length of the industrial action required before the action is recorded; the number of workers who must be involved for the action to be recorded; the nature of the industrial action involved; or whether or not the action is official or unofficial. Some countries measure hours lost due to industrial action, while others measure days. Some countries do not appear to produce any statistics for some of the indicators of industrial action. Acknowledging these problems, in 1993, the International Labour Organisation's International Conference of Labour Statisticians adopted a resolution setting out a uniform set of definitions for the recording of statistics related to labour disputes, but it does not appear that this has been adopted in all EU Member States.

These issues should be borne in mind in reading this report and the notes accompanying tables should be read carefully. Our objective is to provide some broad general data on recent developments, while pointing out the pitfalls involved in comparisons. For reasons of space, and because out aim is not to provide a statistical guide, we do not provide full definitions of how the figures are arrived at for each country, but merely call attention to the problems.

Basic industrial action indicators

Tables 1 to 3 below provide information for the EU Member States and Norway on three basic indicators of industrial action: the number of working days lost through industrial action; the number of workers involved in industrial action; and the number of disputes. We cover the period from 1998 to 2002, though in most countries, figures for 2002 are not yet available in early 2003, or only partial figures can be obtained. The data from some countries are very patchy, and are often not published for some considerable time after the year in question. It should be noted that no gender-segregated statistics for industrial action are available from national sources.

Table 1. Working days lost through industrial action, 1998-2002

.	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002 (partial figures only -see notes)
Austria	0	0	2,947	0	10,000-20,000
Belgium	87,435	26,382	25,482	142,617	nd
Denmark	3,173,000	91,800	124,800	59,500	nd
Finland	133,203	18,953	253,838	60,645	nd
France	353,176	573,561	809,860	703,586	nd
Germany	16,000	79,000	11,000	27,000	nd
Greece	189,400	5,700*	nd	nd	102,100
Hungary	3,911	176,300	636,267	11,676	nd
Ireland	37,374	215,587	97,046	114,613	17,902
Italy	580,429	909,143	884,143	878,286	4,066,143
Luxembourg	19,860	0	2,000	0	500
Netherlands	33,200	75,800	9,400	45,100	nd
Norway	286,407	7,148	496,568	619	nd
Poland	42,741	106,893	74,266	4,200	nd
Portugal	94,755	67,480	40,545	nd	nd
Slovakia	nd	0	0	0	0
Spain	1,263,500	1,477,500	3,577,300	1,917,000	nd
Sweden	1,677	78,735	272	11,098	838
UK	282,000	242,000	499,000	525,000	892,800

Source: EIRO; * first five months of year only.

The figures in table 1 should be read in conjunction with the following notes.

• Austria: figures from the Austrian Trade Union Federation (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB) and Chamber of Labour (Arbeiterkammer); 2002 figure is an estimate.
• Belgium: figures from National Institute of Statistics (Institut National de Statistique/Nationaal Instituut voor de Statistiek, INS/NIS), based on data from the National Office of Social Security (Office national de sécurité sociale/Rijksdienst voor Sociale Zekerheid, ONSS/RSZ) for days not worked by workers subject to social security contributions due to strikes and lock-outs;
• Denmark: figures, Statistics Denmark, cover all disputes.
• Finland: figures from Statistics Finland labour disputes statistics.
• France: figures from the Ministry of Employment's Office for Research and Statistics (Direction de l'animation de la recherche, des études et des statistiques du ministère de l'Emploi, DARES) and regional labour offices.
• Germany: figures from Federal Ministry of Health and Social Security.
• Greece: the Ministry of Labour gives figures in hours, rather than days, lost - 1,515,347 in 1998, 45,618 in 1999 (first five months) and 816,913 in 2002 (first six months); the figures in the table are a rough estimate based on the assumption of an eight-hour day; according to the Ministry, the lack or limited availability for particular years is due to problems with collection by labour inspectorates at local level and a lack of personnel.
• Ireland: figures from the Central Statistical Office; 2002 figure refers to first nine months of year only.
• Italy: figures from National Institute of Statistics (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, Istat); 2002 figure refers to first 10 months of year only; relevant Istat statistics refer to hours lost and figures in the table are an estimate, based on the assumption of a seven-hour day; figures include both conflicts 'connected with the employment relationship' and conflicts 'extraneous to the employment relationship' (ie political strikes).
• Luxembourg: the figures are estimates.
• Netherlands: figures from Central Statistical Office (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, CBS).
• Norway: figures from Statistics Norway.
• Poland: figures, from Central Statistical Office (GUS), refer to working days not worked due to participation in strikes.
• Portugal: figures from Ministry of Labour and Solidarity's Department of Labour, Employment and Vocational Training Statistics (Departamento de Estatística do Trabalho, Emprego e Formação Profissional, DETEFP).
• Spain: figures from National Institute of Statistics (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE).
• Sweden: figures from the National Mediation Office (Medlingsinstitutet).
• UK: figures, from Office for National Statistics (ONS), refer to working days lost in all stoppages in progress in period; 2002 figure is provisional for first nine months of year only.

Table 2. Number of workers involved in industrial action, 1998-2002

.	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002 (partial figures only -see notes)
Austria	0	0	19,439	0	5,000
Belgium	22,060	13,669	12,417	58,460	nd
Denmark	502,258	75,170	75,656	54,752	nd
Finland	35,380	14,993	84,092	21,715	nd
France	122,533	180,154	224,815	176,751	nd
Germany	4,000	199,000	7,000	61,000	nd
Greece	214,546	4,411*	nd	nd	103,294
Hungary	9,600	16,500	40,111	23,135	nd
Ireland	8,060	36,505	28,192	32,168	3,865
Italy	435,000	935,058	687,000	902,577	4,713,496
Luxembourg	17,430	0	250	0	100
Netherlands	30,800	58,900	10,300	37,400	nd
Norway	26,950	651	93,889	29	nd
Poland	16,907	27,149	7,858	1,400	nd
Portugal	44,246	33,532	38,830	nd	nd
Slovakia	nd	0	0	0	0
Spain	671,900	1,125,100	2,061,300	1,242,500	nd
Sweden	570	9,841	163	9,831	711
UK	93,000	141,000	183,000	180,000	841,800

Source: EIRO; * first five months of year only.

Sources and notes as for table 1, with following additional comments

• Austria: 2002 figure is an estimate.
• Greece: 2002 figure is for first six months only.
• Ireland: 2002 figure is for first nine months of year only.
• Italy: 2002 figure is for first 10 months of year only.
• UK: 2002 figure is provisional for first nine months of year only.

Table 3. Number of industrial disputes, 1998-2002

.	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002 (partial figures only -see notes)
Austria	0	0	2	0	3
Belgium	485	64	75	135	nd
Denmark	1,257	1,079	1,081	954	nd
Finland	98	65	86	84	nd
France	1,307	1,398	1,563	1,089	nd
Greece	38	15*	nd	nd	23
Ireland	34	32	39	26	26
Italy	1,103	753	964	683	485
Luxembourg	2	0	1	0	1
Netherlands	22	24	23	16	nd
Norway	36	15	29	3	nd
Poland	37	920	44	11	nd
Portugal	227	200	250	nd	nd
Slovakia	nd	0	0	0	0
Spain	618	739	727	729	nd
Sweden	13	10	2	20	12
UK	166	205	212	194	151

Source: EIRO; * first five months of year only.

Sources and notes are as for table 1, with the following additional comments.

• Austria: figures are estimates.
• Greece: 2002 figure is for first six months only.
• Ireland: 2002 figure is for first nine months of year only.
• Italy: 2002 figure is for first 10 months of year only.
• UK: 2002 figure is provisional for first nine months of year only.

Notable points highlighted by the tables include the following:

• the very low levels of industrial action - and indeed absence in some years - in Austria, Luxembourg and Slovakia;
• the fact that increases in dispute activity often follow the course of the bargaining cycle. For example, the multi-year cycles in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden are mirrored in the industrial action figures, with upsurges in the years of large-scale bargaining rounds;
• the lack of any consistent trend in most countries, with figures often rising and falling from year to year. These annual variations can be enormous - with countries experiencing major peaks in action before and after years of relatively lower action including Denmark in 1998, Finland in 2000, Hungary in 2002, Ireland in 1999, Italy in 2002, Norway in 2000, Spain in 2000 and Sweden in 1999. Among the few countries where any kind of overall trend can be discerned are Portugal, where levels of industrial action fell consistently over 1998-2000, Poland, where levels have been falling since 1999, and the UK, where levels have been rising since 1999; and
• the very different pictures in the broadly comparable (in size terms) 'big five' EU Member States - France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. France, Italy and especially Spain show considerably higher levels of industrial action than Germany (notably so) and the UK - though the latter country appears to be 'catching up'.

The figures in Tables 1 to 3 provide some indications of trends in individual countries, but they are of little use for purposes of international comparisons. The very different sizes of the countries mean that the absolute figures give little indication of the extent to which countries are strike-prone or otherwise in comparison with others. The only measure which enables this to be compared is the number of working days lost per 1,000 employees. Table 4 below provides data on this indicator (based on estimates in many cases).

Table 4. Working days lost through industrial action per 1,000 employees, 1998-2002

.	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002 (partial figures only -see notes)
Austria	0	0	0.9	0	nd
Belgium	25.5	7.7	7.4	41.7	nd
Denmark	1,281.5	37.1	50.4	24.0	nd
Finland	60.0	8.0	109.0	26.0	nd
France	23.0	38.0	54.0	34.0	nd
Germany	0.6	2.6	0.4	0.9	nd
Greece	80.3	5.8*	nd	nd	86.6*
Hungary	1.1	46.3	195.5	3.5	nd
Ireland	26.6	153.3	69.0	81.5	17.0*
Italy	28.2	43.6	41.7	40.6	185.3
Luxembourg	86.3	0	8.7	0	2.2
Netherlands	4.7	10.6	1.3	6.3	nd
Norway	138.8	3.4	236.6	0.3	nd
Poland	6.4	17.3	26.0	nd	nd
Portugal	26.1	18.6	11.2	nd	nd
Slovakia	nd	0	0	0	0
Spain	119.4	129.6	292.5	151.0	nd
Sweden	0.5	21.5	0.1	3.0	0.2
UK	11.0	10.0	20.0	20.0	45.0*

Source: EIRO; * annual extrapolations of partial figures.

Figures for Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden are rough estimates calculated by dividing total working days lost by number of employees (as stated in Eurostat's 2001 labour force survey). Otherwise, sources and notes are as for table 1, with the following additional comments.

• France: figure represents number of days of strike action per 1,000 employees, based on UNEDIC labour force figures relating to previous year.
• Greece: 1999 and 2002 figures are extrapolations of figures for first five months and first six months respectively
• Ireland: 2002 figure is extrapolation of figure for first nine months of year only.
• Italy: 2002 figure is for first 10 months of year only.
• Spain: figures available from INE only for working days lost due to disputes related to collective bargaining; figures in table are estimates for all days lost.
• UK: 2002 figure is extrapolation of provisional figure for first nine months of year only.

Figure 1 below gives the average figures for working days lost through industrial action per 1,000 employees over 1998-2001 (insufficient data are available for the inclusion of 2002).

* Average of two years only; ** average of three years only; *** average.

Source: EIRO.

On average over 1998-2001, the highest levels of industrial action were found in Denmark (462 days lost per 1,000 workers) and Spain (173 days lost) and the lowest in Austria (0.2 days lost) and Slovakia (no days lost). The overall average for all countries was 60.6 days lost, while that for the EU and Norway was slightly higher at 67.1. For this four-year period, the countries can be divided into three groups:

• countries where industrial action was at low levels, with an average of under 20 working days lost per year for every 1,000 employees - Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden and the UK;
• countries where industrial action was at moderate levels, with an average of 20-70 working days lost per year for every 1,000 workers - Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Luxembourg; and
• countries where industrial action was at relatively high levels, with an average of over 70 working days lost per year for every 1,000 workers - Denmark, Ireland, Norway and Spain.

However, the figures for such a short period cannot give a proper picture of national situations and of trends. Notably, the very high figure for Denmark in 1998 (nearly 1,300 days lost per 1,000 workers), arising from a major dispute in the private sector over new collective agreements (DK9805168F) distorts both the Danish figures and the overall average. Over 1999-2001, the annual average in Denmark was only 37.2, placing the country in the moderate-action category. Omitting the 'one-off' events in Denmark in 1998 from the calculation of the overall average for all countries reduces it from 60.8 days to 38.5. There are also other cases where a particular year has seen an unusually high level of action in a country, compared with the other years examined - such as Hungary or Spain in 2000 and Luxembourg in 1998. However, relatively stability (ie an absence of dramatic absolute year-on-year changes) appeared to be the norm over 1998-2001 in countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Sweden and the UK.

Although there are considerable differences between the levels of industrial action in the various countries, it should be noted that levels of industrial action throughout the EU are generally at a low level, when compared with previous years. In the first half of the 1980s (according to Eurostat figures), countries such as Greece, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK averaged over 400 days lost per 1,000 workers annually, while Denmark, France, Luxembourg and Portugal averaged over 100. While levels of activity generally dropped off in the second half of the 1980s, Greece and Spain still averaged over 600 days lost annually, while Ireland, Italy and the UK averaged over 100. The late 1990s and early 2000s have thus clearly been a period of relative industrial peace in many countries.

Sectors most affected

Industrial action is rarely spread evenly through the economy, often being concentrated in particular sectors, either generally or in particular years. Table 5 below indicates the three sectors most affected by industrial action each year over 1998-2002 (data are not available for all years in all cases) in each of the 15 countries for which any information is available, along with the percentage of all days lost through industrial action accounted for by each sector (where available).

Table 5. Sectors most affected by industrial action, 1998-2002

Country	1	2	3
Austria	.	.	.
1998	-	-	-
1999	-	-	-
2000	Federal railways.	Local transport	-
2001	-	-	-
2002	Public bus company	Education	.
Denmark	.	.	.
1998	Industry (48%)	Building / construction (18%)	Transport (13%)
1999	Industry (64%)	Local government (22%)	Transport (7%)
2000	Industry (56%)	Local government (18%)	Transport (14%)
2001	Industry (68%)	Transport (10%)	Local government (8%)
Finland	.	.	.
1998	Public order and safety	Manufacturing	Transport
1999	Manufacturing	Transport	-
2000	Manufacturing	Transport	Forestry
2001	Healthcare	Manufacturing	Transport
Germany	.	.	.
1998	Metalworking (30%)	Transport (21%)	Wood industry (12%)
1999	nd	nd	nd
2000	Waste disposal (27%)	Printing (24%)	Retail (18%)
2001	Metalworking (75%)	Transport / communication (18%)	Retail (4%)
Hungary	.	.	.
1998	Manufacturing	-	-
1999	Transport	-	-
2000	Transport	-	-
2001	Healthcare	Public services	-
Ireland	.	.	.
1999	Nursing (80% )	-	-
2000	Transport	Teaching	Nursing
2001	Teaching (65%)	Transport / communication (14%)	Manufacturing (13%)
2002 (first nine months)	Manufacturing (14%)	Health / social work (6%)	-
Italy*	.	.	.
1998	Metalworking	Transport	Chemicals / rubber
1999	Metalworking	Commerce	Transport
2000	Transport	Metalworking	Education
2001	Metalworking	Transport	Commerce
2002 (first 10 months)	Metalworking	Transport	Banking / insurance
Luxembourg	.	.	.
1998	Railways	Civil service	-
1999	-	-	-
2000	Security	-	-
2001	-	-	-
2002	Transport	-	-
Netherlands	.	.	.
1998	Education (67%)	Government (24%)	Industry (7%)
1999	Education (58%)	Building / construction (23%)	Government (12%)
2000	Industry (36%)	Transport / communication (35%)	Government and education (28%)
2001	Non-commercial services (52%)	Commercial services (29%)	Industry and building / construction (19%)
Norway	.	.	.
1998	Transport / storage / communication (56%)	Health / social work (16%)	Education (12%)
1999	Mining/quarrying (43%)	Transport / storage / communication (24%)	Wholesale and retail trade / repairs (11%)
2000	Manufacturing (58%)	Construction (19%)	Health / social work (11%)
2001	Hotels/restaurants (84%)	Manufacturing (16%)	-
Poland	.	.	.
1999	Education (96% of strikes)	Manufacturing (2% of strikes)	Transport / storage / communication (1% of strikes)
2000	Health / social work (77% of strikes)	Transport / storage / communication (9% of strikes)	Manufacturing (9% of strikes)
Portugal	.	.	.
1998-2000	Transport	-	-
Spain	.	.	.
1998	Industry	Construction	Services
1999	Services	Industry	Construction
2000	Construction	Services	Industry
2001	Industry	Construction	Services
Sweden	.	.	.
1998	Construction	-	-
1999	Transport	-	-
2000	Pharmacies	-	-
2001	Construction	Transport	-
UK	.	.	.
1998	Transport / storage / communication (49%)	Manufacture of transport equipment (10%)	Public administration (10%
1999	Manufacture of transport equipment (20%)	Construction (19%)	Transport / storage / communication (13%)
2000	Transport / storage / communication (20%)	Health / social work (12%)	Public administration (9%)
2001	Health/social work (25%)	Transport / storage / communication (23%)	Public administration (14%)
2002 (first nine months)	Public administration (39%)	Education (35%)	Health / social work (15%)

Source: EIRO. * Figures refer only to working days lost because of conflicts connected to the employment relationship. Notes - see table 1 above.

Across the countries covered (and allowing for differing definitions of sectors), the sector most affected by industrial action over 1998-2002 was probably transport and communications, followed closely by industry/manufacturing (with metalworking particularly prominent within this category). The broad public sector (with health and social work and education particularly prominent) was the next most industrial action-prone sector. Private sector services rarely figured in the top three sectors in any country, though with exceptions such as commerce/retail in Germany and Italy. In some countries, particular sectors which were not prominent elsewhere featured highly in particular years, such as public order in Finland and mining/quarrying (in fact, usually oil production) in Norway. Although the nature of the data does not always allow the private and public sectors to be distinguished, it appears that the distribution of industrial action between the two varies considerably between the countries. For example, countries where a relatively high proportion of the most strike-prone industries are in the public sector include Austria, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal, while the private sector seems more prominent in countries such as Germany, Italy and Sweden.

Table 5 indicates the extent to which a particular sector may dominate the industrial action figures in a particular year. For example, a single sector accounted for half or more of all working days lost in Denmark over 1999-2001 (industry), Germany in 2001 (metalworking), Ireland in 1999 (nursing) and 2001 (teaching), the Netherlands in 1998 and 1999 (education) and Norway in 1998 (transport/communication) and 2000 (manufacturing).

Reasons for industrial action

Industrial action statistics or other sources from 14 countries allow the main causes of industrial action to be identified. Table 6 below indicates the three main cause for industrial action in these countries over 1998-2002 (data are not available for all years in all cases) along with the percentage of all days lost through industrial action accounted for by each reason (where available).

Table 6. Main causes of industrial action, 1998-2002

Country	1	2	3
Austria	.	.	.
1998	-	-	-
1999	-	-	-
2000	Cuts in welfare system	Changes in railway employees' pensions scheme	-
2001	-	-	-
2002	Public sector restructuring	-	-
Belgium	.	.	.
1998	Working conditions (84%)	Employment (12%)	Pay (1%)
1999	Employment (46%)	Pay (23%)	Working conditions (9%)
2000	Employment (55%)	Working conditions (23%)	Pay (9%)
2001	Employment (32%)	Pay (18%)	Working conditions (6%)
Denmark	.	.	.
1998	Pay (36%)	Industrial questions (28%)	Dismissals (19%)
1999	Pay (49%)	Dismissals (17%)	Industrial questions (4%)
2000	Pay (58%)	Dismissals (7%)	Industrial questions (7%)
2001	Pay (51%)	Dismissals (12%)	Industrial questions (6%)
Finland	.	.	.
1998	Job losses (31% of disputes)	Pay (21% of disputes)	Support of other dispute (15% of disputes)
1999	Job losses (38% of disputes)	Pay (25% of disputes)	Working conditions (20% of disputes)
2000	Negotiations (23% of disputes)	Pay (22%)	Job losses (15%)
2001	Job losses (27%)	Management (25%)	Pay (23%)
France	.	.	.
1998	Pay	Employment levels	Rights
1999	Pay	Employment levels	Working time
2000	Pay	Working time	Working conditions
2001	Pay	Employment levels	Working time and working conditions
Hungary	.	.	.
1998-2001	Pay	-	-
Ireland	.	.	.
1999-2001	Pay	-	-
2002 (first nine months)	Pay	Restructuring	Employment levels
Italy	.	.	.
1998	Pay (company level) (35%)	Job losses and lay-offs (19%)	Bargaining over sectoral agreements (13%)
1999	Bargaining over sectoral agreements (70%)	Pay (company level) (16%)	Job losses and lay-offs (3%)
2000	Pay (company level) (51%)	Bargaining over sectoral agreements (26%)	Job losses and lay-offs (8%)
Netherlands	.	.	.
1998	Collective agreements (90%)	Working time and other (9%)	-
1999	Collective agreements (91%)	-	-
2000	Collective agreements (52%)	Working time and other (48%)	-
2001	Collective agreements (77%)	-	-
Norway	.	.	.
1998-2001	Pay	-	-
Portugal	.	.	.
1998	Pay (51%)	Working time	Collective bargaining process
1999	Pay (47%)	Working time	Collective bargaining process
2000	Pay (56%)	Working time	Collective bargaining process
Spain	.	.	.
1998	Political issues	Collective bargaining process	Accidents, health and safety
1999	'Other labour causes'	Accidents, health and safety	Collective bargaining process
2000	Accidents, health and safety	Collective bargaining process	Political issues
2001	Accidents, health and safety	Collective bargaining process	Non-payment of wages
Sweden	.	.	.
1998	Pay	-	-
1999	Pay	Working conditions	-
2000	Pay	-	-
2001	Pay	-	-
UK	.	.	.
1998	Pay (33% of disputes)	Staffing and work allocation (23% of disputes)	Redundancy (13% of disputes)
1999	Pay (30% of disputes)	Staffing and work allocation (16% of disputes)	Dismissal and discipline (16% of disputes)
2000	Pay (34% of disputes)	Staffing and work allocation (21% of disputes)	Dismissal and discipline (16% of disputes)
2001	Pay (26% of disputes)	Staffing and work allocation (25% of disputes)	Dismissal and discipline (20% of disputes)
2002 (first nine months)	Pay (49% of disputes)	Staffing and work allocation (18% of disputes)	Dismissal and discipline and redundancy (both 9% of disputes)

Source: EIRO. Notes - see table 1 above, except for Denmark, where data, covering only unofficial strikes, are from the Danish Employers' Confederation.

Unsurprisingly, the number one reason for industrial action is undoubtedly pay. It features specifically among the leading issues in all countries but Austria, the Netherlands and Spain - and in the latter two cases, pay can probably be assumed to be involved in many of the collective bargaining disputes which are prominent causes of action. Pay is consistently the leading single issue in industrial action in Denmark, France, Hungary, Ireland, Norway (where disputes are usually over the negotiation of sectoral agreements, in which pay is generally the most important of a number of issues), Portugal, Sweden and the UK, and is a leading issue in Belgium, Finland and Italy.

Employment is probably the next most important reason for industrial action (as in Belgium), especially when dismissals (prominent in Denmark and the UK), redundancies and job losses (prominent in Finland and Italy) are included in this category. The next most common reason is issues arising out of the collective bargaining process (as in Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Finland) - which may of course include concerns over pay and other substantive matters. Working time (as in Portugal, France and the Netherlands) and working conditions (prominent in Belgium and France) come some way behind. Within these overall trends, there are a number of national peculiarities, such as the prominence of accidents/health and safety and political issues in Spain, or of 'industrial questions' in Denmark.

Dispute resolution

Most countries examined here have some mechanisms for the resolution of industrial disputes, provided either voluntarily or compulsorily by the state or the social partners themselves. Although definitions vary, the main forms of dispute resolution are:

• arbitration - whereby a third party makes a binding decision on an issue on which the parties cannot agree;
• mediation - whereby a third party takes an active role (more so than in conciliation), usually making recommendations for the resolution of the dispute; and
• conciliation - whereby a third party merely attempts to bring the parties to a dispute together and helps them reach a mutually acceptable solution.

While most of the 19 countries practice one or more of these forms of dispute resolution, statistics on their use are rarely available. Tables 7 to 9 below give the relevant figures on referrals to arbitration, mediation and conciliation for the small number of countries where data are available.

For the countries which use more than one form of dispute resolution it appears that: mediation is more commonly used than arbitration in Hungary, Norway and Slovakia; conciliation is more commonly used than arbitration in Ireland and Portugal; conciliation is more commonly used than arbitration or mediation in Luxembourg; conciliation is much more frequent than arbitration, which in turn is more common than mediation, in the UK; and conciliation is used much more often than mediation in Spain. Overall, it appears that conciliation is the most commonly used form of dispute resolution across the countries concerned, followed by mediation. (Mark Carley, SPIRE Associates)

Table 7. Number of disputes referred to arbitration, 1998-2002

.	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Denmark	26	23	15	20	nd
Hungary	1	0	2	1	0
Ireland	701	825	779	884	nd
Luxembourg	0	1	0	0	0
Norway	4	0	4	0	3
Portugal	nd	nd	0	0	0
Slovakia	nd	1 (1 resolved)	0	2 (2 resolved)	nd
UK	55	49	65	57	nd

Source: EIRO.

The figures in table 7 should be read in conjunction with the following notes.

• Denmark: figures, from the Confederation of Danish Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO) cover only the LO/Danish Employers’ Confederation (Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening, DA) bargaining area.
• Hungary: figures refer to arbitration by Labour Mediation and Arbitration Service.
• Ireland: figures refer to referrals to the Labour Court
• Norway: figures, from State Mediator's Office, refer to compulsory arbitration.
• Portugal: figures from Institute for the Development and Inspection of Working Conditions (Instituto para o desenvolvimento e Inspecção das Condições de Trabalho, IDICT).
• UK: figures from Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas); 1998 figure is for 1997-8; 1999 figure is for 1998-9; 2000 figure is for 1999-2000; 2001 figure is for 2000-1.

Table 8. Number of disputes referred to mediation, 1998-2002

.	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Hungary	9	11	6	5	6
Luxembourg	1	0	0	0	0
Norway	355	240	211	265	265
Slovakia	nd	31 ( 21 resolved)	29 (23 resolved)	29 (19 resolved)	25 (13 resolved)
Spain	91	87	84	81	76
UK	8	6	1	5	nd

Source: EIRO; * first five months of year only.

The figures in table 8 should be read in conjunction with the following notes.

• Hungary: figures refer to mediation by Labour Mediation and Arbitration Service.
• Norway: figures from State Mediator's Office
• Spain: EIRO calculation based on INE figures; 2002 figure refers only to first five months.
• UK: figures from Acas; 1998 figure is for 1997-8; 1999 figure is for 1998-9; 2000 figure is for 1999-2000; 2001 figure is for 2000-1.

Table 9. Number of disputes referred to conciliation, 1998-2002

.	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Ireland	1,563	1,923	1,899	1,815 (80% resolved)	.
Luxembourg	4	15	7	12	15
Poland	60	75	98	64	nd
Portugal	nd	nd	118	130	nd
Spain	1,596	1,306	1,070	839	391
UK	1,321	1,302 (1,059 settled or progress towards settlement)	1,500 (1,152 settled or progress towards settlement)	1,472 (1,226 settled or progress towards settlement)	nd

Source: EIRO.

The figures in table 9 should be read in conjunction with the following notes.

• Ireland: figures refer to conciliation by Labour Relations Commission.
• Portugal: figures from IDICT.
• Spain: EIRO calculation based on INE figures; 2002 figure refers only to first five months.
• UK: figures from Acas; 1998 figure is for 1997-8; 1999 figure is for 1998-9; 2000 figure is for 1999-2000; 2001 figure is for 2000-1.

• ID: TN0303104U
• Author: Mark Carley, SPIRE Associates
• Country: EU Countries
• Language: EN
• Publication date: 13-03-2003