Strikes are not very common in the UK. The ‘strike rate’ is defined by statisticians as the number of working days lost through strike action per 1,000 employees. The most recent figure for the UK is for 2007, in which 38 working days per 1,000 employees were lost. In general, the strike rate for the UK has been falling since the late 1980s, from a high point of 172 in 1989 to a low point of 6 in 2005, though there are occasional ‘blips’: two large public sector disputes in 2002 took the average up to 51. It is not yet clear whether the figure of 38 for 2007 is a similar blip, or the start of a new upward trend. Further proof that the UK's strike rate has declined to a very low level is provided by the WERS. This study collects data by asking managers whether or not any industrial action has taken place in their workplace during the last year. In 1980, a quarter of workplaces reported some kind of industrial action (including non-strike action). In 1990, the figure had fallen to 13 per cent, and by 2004 it was just 3 per cent. The figures for strike action were 11 per cent in 1990, falling to 2 per cent in 2004. Nevertheless, industrial action is probably the most controversial topic in labour law. Most people have experienced the disruption industrial action can cause: perhaps your travel plans have been affected by a strike of train drivers or air traffic controllers, for example. And it provokes very different reactions from rights theorists and economists.