Wages continue to rise and fail to keep pace with inflation despite the largest rise in private sector pay outside of the COVID-19 era.
The number of working days lost to strike action totalled 843,000 in December, bringing the total number of strike days from June to December 2022 to 2,471,000, the highest since 1989, official figures show.
There were 4,129,000 days lost to strike action in 1989 due to industrial action by rail workers and coal miners, the Office for National Statistics said.
The loss in days due to labour disputes in December is the highest since November 2011 due to public sector pension strikes. That month saw 997,000 working days lost to strikes.
The days lost last year up to November had already reached a high not seen since 1990 when there were 1.9 million days lost.
