Work Stoppages - March 1999 quarter

Fewer work stoppages but more people involved

The downward trend in the number of notified work stoppages continues. Four work stoppages ended in the March 1999 quarter. This compares with eight in the previous quarter and five in the same quarter last year. It is the lowest number of stoppages in any quarter this decade.

Some 1,758 employees were involved in work stoppages in the March 1999 quarter. This was more than four times the number recorded in the December 1998 quarter. The four stoppages resulted in the loss of 3,835 person days of work and an estimated $444,000 in salaries and wages. All of the four stoppages of the quarter were complete strikes.
In the year to 31 March 1999, 34 stoppages ended compared to 39 in the March 1998 year. The March 1999 year stoppages involved 16,258 employees and 13,960 days of work. An estimated $2.1 million in wages and salaries was lost. In comparison, the 39 work stoppages in the March 1998 year involved 7,552 employees, a loss of 24,120 days of work and an estimated loss of $3.0 million in salaries and wages.

In 1999, 10 of the 34 work stoppages were in the health and community services industry; nine were in the manufacturing industry; and seven were in education. The remaining eight were in all other industries combined. Work stoppages in the education industry involved 11,893 employees, or 73 per cent of all those involved in stoppages in the March 1999 year.

Dianne Macaskill
DEPUTY GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN
28 July 1999

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