Almost 330,000 work days lost to disputes in 2009

THERE were 329,706 days of work lost to the economy in 2009 due to industrial disputes involving 278,228 workers, new figures show.

That compares to just 4,179 days lost to action by 356 workers in the previous year.

The bulk of last year’s figure were due to action by public sector workers. They accounted for 248,679 (75%) of the days lost and 265,400 (95%) of the workers involved.