The strikes and lockouts in industrial sector have been demonstrating declining trend over the past several years. However, the number of workers affected and the mandays lost have been increasing.
The number of incidents of strikes and lockouts declined from 1305 in 1997 to 477 in 2004. The decline during 2004 was 13.59 per cent when compared to 552 strikes and lockouts during 2003.
At the same time, there has been an increase in the number of workers affected and the mandays lost which is a direct measure of the impact of industrial unrest on workers.
The workers affected due to strikes and lockouts increased from 1.82 million in 2003 to 2.07 million in 2004 showing a 13.74 per cent rise. During the first nine months of 2005, a total number of 340 strikes and lockouts took place affecting 1.41 million workers.
The number of mandays lost increased from 16.97 million to 23.87 million in 2004 and shows variation over this period. However, during 2004 the mandays lost due to strikes and lockouts have, at the aggregate level, decreased by 21.12 per cent in 2004 as compared to 2003.
During the period from January to September, 2005, the mandays lost due to strikes and lockouts were 2.83 million and 4.47 million respectively.
West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Kerala were the most affected states due to strikes and lockouts and the number of workers involved/affected as a result of these disturbances. Similarly, among industry groups textiles, engineering and chemicals recorded maximum number of strikes and lockouts.
Most of the industrial unrest, as indicated by the strikes and lock outs has been primarily related to violence, non-payment of wages and allowances and personnel matters.
Press Information Bureau Government of India
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