The economy lost nearly 2.5 million working days to strikes last year as Britain suffered its most severe industrial action since Margaret Thatcher was in power. The Office for National Statistics said Tuesday that 843,000 working days were lost due to labor disputes in December, itself the worst month in more than a decade. That took the total for June to the end of the year to 2,472,000 days lost. The last time it was worse was 1989-90, toward the end of Thatcher’s time as prime minister. Unions are railing against pay offers that fall behind the UK’s rate of inflation. Protests have escalated this year with major ... (full story)