Industrial Action And Reaction: Coping With Workplace Unrest

In recent weeks, millions of Britons have been engaged in the familiar ritual of clearing away the last traces of the festive period and preparing for another year of work.

Yet even as the calendar moves forward, there are those who might be forgiven for thinking that we are actually going back in time.

Industrial action across the private and public sectors has been one of the constants of news coverage over the last six months.

The strikes show no sign of easing either, with more stoppages involving employees in transport, retail, education, health and the civil service planned for the coming weeks ( https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/dec/31/uk-strike-calendar-service-stoppages-planned-for-january).

Last month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) issued data which made clear the increasing impact of action by trades unions across the course of 2022 (https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/timeseries/bbfw/lms).

During October, for example, 417,000 working days were lost to strikes. Although more than five times the figure for July, it was still a tiny fraction of the nearly 12 million workdays affected by walkouts during September 1979.

Industrial action doesn't have to be protracted or widespread to have an effect on businesses and the people whom they employ.

Another batch of ONS data published only last week showed that strikes impacted 16 per cent of companies during November (https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/businessservices/bulletins/businessinsightsandimpactontheukeconomy/5january2023).

That only exacerbated strains created by rising costs and heightened concerns about whether bosses might need to cut jobs to balance their books.

Government has sought to address things by encouraging union leaders to negotiate a settlement to the series of disputes which are ongoing.

However, it has done so at the same time as trailing new legislation to deal with the prospect of further industrial action (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-invites-unions-to-return-to-the-table-and-call-off-strikes#:~:text=Business%20and%20industry-,Government%20invites%20unions%20to%20return%20to%20the%20table%20and%20call,to%20avoiding%20prolonged%20industrial%20action).

Taken together, it all represents a fairly fraught picture which provides business owners little comfort to start the new year.

I would not be surprised if some firms reading the latest news reports interpret ministers' determination to confront the consequences of the strikes as giving them something of a freer hand when it comes to dealing with obvious tensions.

However, I would urge caution.

After all, not every difficulty in the workplace actually leads to a strike. Many issues can be resolved relatively simply.

Being uncompromising when facing up to challenges is rarely - if ever - a recipe for harmony or long-term commercial success.

It is far better to take advice in order to ensure that you're informed about what is causing problems and what you can do about it.

Doing so can not only actually prevent the threat of strikes but avoid other fundamental difficulties, such as the departure of key staff.

That's a problem which is already a regular theme at this time of year. Last year, media coverage referred to January being the season for unhappy employees pursuing new jobs ( https://metro.co.uk/2023/01/02/divorce-day-at-work-why-were-breaking-up-with-our-jobs-in-january-18024838/).

The ONS figures reinforced how grave a concern that is currently. Almost one-third (32 per cent) of UK companies with more than 10 employees are described as having a staff shortage.

In my experience, many employers tend to be reactive when it comes to employment issues. Dealing with issues as and when they crop up, means that they take up time and greater expense because of the imperative of finding a quick solution which could be better devoted to growing a business.

Likewise, companies would be ill-advised to act on newspaper headlines featuring bold declarations from Government about future legislation.

Bills take time to work their way through parliament and may look very different if and when they end up on the Statute Book.

To rework an old proverb, doing as much as you can to anticipate workplace disputes even if you can't prevent them all is better than handling the cost, conflict and possible reputational damage which can ensue.