Fewer Work Stoppages But Other Indicators Rise

Work Stoppages: December 1999 quarter

Ten work stoppages ended in the quarter to December 1999 latest figures from Statistics New Zealand show. Some 4,953 employees were involved in the December quarter stoppages. These 10 stoppages resulted in the loss of 7,794 person-days of work and an estimated $2.3 million in salaries and wages - the highest quarterly loss of salaries and wages since the September 1996 quarter. Three stoppages in the transport, storage and communication industry contributed 86 per cent to the estimated quarterly loss in salaries and wages.

In the previous September 1999 quarter 13 stoppages ended involving 3,817 employees. These stoppages resulted in the loss of 4,410 person-days of work, with an average loss of 1.2 person-days of work per employee. An estimated $0.5 million was lost in wages and salaries.

Thirty-two work stoppages ended in the 1999 calendar year. This number is the lowest recorded in a calendar year since 1935.

The 32 stoppages involved 10,747 employees and 16,674 person-days of work. An estimated $3.3 million in wages and salaries was lost. In comparison, there were 35 work stoppages in the 1998 calendar year with 15,205 employees involved and a loss of 11,778 person-days of work. The 1998 stoppages had an estimated loss of $1.9 million in salaries and wages.

Eight of the 32 work stoppages were in the education industry; seven were in manufacturing; six were in transport, storage and communication; and five were in health and community services. The remaining six were in all other industries combined. The six stoppages in the transport, storage and communication industry contributed nearly two-thirds to the $3.3 million in wages and salaries lost in the December 1999 year.

Denise Brown
ACTING DEPUTY GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN
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