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Measuring the 2022–2023 strike wave in Britain: ballots, participation and methodological implications

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  • Andy Hodder
  • Stephen Mustchin

Abstract

This paper analyses new forms of strike data published as a result of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act. An unintended consequence of the Act is that we now have quantifiable data at the micro level, which has previously been unavailable, that helps us understand the various mechanisms at play in individual strikes. We analyse two disputes from the 2022‐2023 strike wave in detail (in NHS England and on the UK's rail system), and provide the first academic analysis of these new forms of strike data. The aim of the paper is to examine what these new forms of data can tell us about strikes using examples of two disputes. While the paper is not designed to be an in‐depth study of the strikes themselves, the use of these novel forms of data enable new insights into membership participation in strikes, and builds upon long‐standing analyses of the relative power resources of unions.

Suggested Citation

  • Andy Hodder & Stephen Mustchin, 2025. "Measuring the 2022–2023 strike wave in Britain: ballots, participation and methodological implications," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 46-74, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:56:y:2025:i:1:p:46-74
    DOI: 10.1111/irj.12450
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andy Hodder & Mark Williams & John Kelly & Nick McCarthy, 2017. "Does Strike Action Stimulate Trade Union Membership Growth?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(1), pages 165-186, March.
    2. Dave Lyddon, 2021. "Strike ballots under the 2016 Trade Union Act: Unions mobilise to counter the latest legal onslaught," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(6), pages 479-501, November.
    3. Nick Jephson & Hugh Cook & Andy Charlwood, 2024. "Prisoners of oath: Junior doctors’ professional identities during and after industrial action," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 45(2), pages 556-578, May.
    4. Heiner Dribbusch & Kurt Vandaele, 2016. "Comparing official strike data in Europe – dealing with varieties of strike recording," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 22(3), pages 413-418, August.
    5. Jane Holgate & Melanie Simms & Maite Tapia, 2018. "The limitations of the theory and practice of mobilization in trade union organizing," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 39(4), pages 599-616, November.
    6. Ioannis Katsaroumpas, 2023. "Crossing the Rubicon: The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 as an Authoritarian Crucible," Industrial Law Journal, Industrial Law Society, vol. 52(3), pages 513-559.
    7. Allan Kerr & Sanjit Sachdev, 1992. "Third among Equals: An Analysis of the 1989 Ambulance Dispute," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 30(1), pages 127-143, March.
    8. John Godard, 2011. "What Has Happened to Strikes?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 49(2), pages 282-305, June.
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