Work stoppages double under new labour laws

By Jock Anderson

Friday 19th April 2002

Work stoppages continued to plague the union-chummy Labour-Alliance coalition last year as industrial anarchy blossomed.

Latest Department of Statistics figures show there were 42 work stoppages in the December 2001 year, double the number recorded in 2000.

More teachers took industrial action than any other group - 65% of all involved employees.

Last year's stoppages - 17 of them in manufacturing - included 38 strikes, two partial strikes and two lockouts.

They involved 30,022 employees (previous year 2632) who lost an estimated $7.7 million in wages and salaries (previous year $2.3 million) and cost employers 54,440 lost work days (previous year 11,495).

Nearly half the work days lost - 23,394 ended in the December quarter.

Private-sector stoppages increased from nine in 2000 to 28 last year. Public-sector stoppages increased from 12 to 14.

The increase in stoppages has been blamed on the partial return of collective contracts under the Employment Relations Act.

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