NEARLY four million working days have been lost to industrial action in the past year — more than at any point since the 1980s — new research has revealed.

Many of the strikes, which have wiped out about 3.9 million working days, have been fuelled by take-home pay falls of more than 9 per cent in the highly unionised public sector, according to the Resolution Foundation.

Industries including health, education, the postal services and railways have been responsible for 96 per cent of all days lost to strike action since 2021, the independent think tank added.