PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENT, WAGES AND STRIKES IN THE UK: THE THATCHER YEARS (1979 - 1984)

P. B. BEAUMONT

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DOI: 10.2190/L3EB-Q63R-7BLK-397K

Abstract

The present Conservative Government of Margaret Thatcher is committed to reducing the size of the public sector and the power of public sector unions in the UK. This article reviews the employment, wage, and strike record of the public sector under the present government to date. The results indicate that, first, public sector employment has fallen by some 11 to 12 percent in the years 1979-84, although considerable variation around this average is apparent. Second, public sector wage settlements, although generally in excess of the government's target figures, have tended to fall in successive years since 1979, with increases being typically below those of the private sector from 1981-82. And finally, national wage disputes and prominent manpower stoppages, with their relatively sizeable contribution to total working day lost, have increasingly characterized the public sector since 1979, although the frequency of strikes and industrial conflict should certainly not be viewed as a sector-wide phenomenon.

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