Industrial Strife in Western Europe

Archive Report

Labor's Challenge to European Stability

Spread of ’English Disease’ Through Europe

The “ENGLISH DISEASE,” inflationary wage settlements arising from trade-union militancy, is spreading through Western Europe. Strikes and other work stoppages have extended from industrial Sweden in the north to impoverished Portugal in the south. More working days, 12.1 million in all, were lost through strikes in Britain in the first three months of 1971 than during any entire year since 1926. The initiative for much of the industrial unrest both in Britain and on the European continent comes from the shop floor. Disruptive, often spontaneous, actions take the union hierarchy as much by surprise as management. Union leaders, fearing a loss of control, have been quick to sanction unofficial—“wildcat”—strikes and to echo, rather than restrain, ...

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