The combination of the marked decline in union membership in the UK, the labour “shake-outs” of the 1980’s and early 1990s and the radical reform of the laws governing industrial action begun in 1980 by the Thatcher Governments, led by 1997 to the lowest ever number of annual days lost arising from industrial action since records began, a total of 235,000. This compares to over 21 million days lost in 1979 ... subscribe to view the full document