What strikes? 79% of Britons say walkouts cause little disruption to their ... trends now
View
comments
A wave of strikes this winter has failed to disturb Britons from their daily routines with over three quarters reporting no disruption due to recent walkouts.
Research from YouGov found nearly four in ten people (38 per cent) said the strikes had not disrupted their daily lives at all, while 41 per cent say any disruption has been of little consequence.
Just 4 per cent of people say strikes affected their daily life 'very' significantly, while 14 per cent say disruption has been 'fairly' impactful.
Those aged 18 to 24 are most likely to have experienced very or fairly significant disruption (35 per cent) and those aged 65 and over least likely (7 per cent)
A third of Londoners (33 per cent) say disruption to day to day life has been very or fairly significant, compared to between 15 per cent and 17 per cent of those living elsewhere.
A protest leaves Portland Place as tens of thousands of striking teachers and their supporters march in central London yesterday
Public sector union members in education, the civil service and the Railways are taking part in strike action across the UK yesterday
The statistics emerge as teachers could be forced to tell schools they are planning to strike to avoid a repeat of yesterday’s nationwide disruption.
Ministers are urgently examining whether to tighten the law to close a loophole that prevents headteachers from knowing which staff are taking part in industrial action.
Tens of thousands of teachers who are members of the National Education Union (NEU) left their posts and joined picket lines yesterday.
In a general strike in all but name – dubbed ‘Walkout Wednesday’ – they joined 100,000 civil servants, 70,000 university staff and thousands of train drivers and Border Force officers in staging industrial action.
The strikes caused misery for parents, many of whom were left in limbo after the union encouraged teachers to refuse to tell heads in advance whether they would turn up for work.