In what way are strikes in Britain different from those in other European countries?

Strikes are very cormmon in Britain. They are very harmful to its industries. In fact, there are other countries in western Europe that lose more working days than Britain. The trouble with the strikes in Britain is that they occur in central industries. There are more than four hundred ninety-five unions in Britain. Some unions are very small. Over twenty have more than one hundred thousand members. Units do not exist only to do for high wages. They also educate their members. They provide benefits for the sick and try to improve working conditions. Trade unionists say that we must thank the unions for the great improvement in working conditions in the last hundred years. It is now against the law for union members to go on strike without the support of their union. This kind of strike is called the unofficial strike and was common until recently. Employers feel that unofficial strikes are most harmful because they could not be predicted. But these unofficial strikes still occur from time to time and some unions have also refused to cooperate with the law. As a result,the general picture of relations between workers and employers in Britain has gone from bad to worse.