With high-profile mainstays of the British way of life, such as the railways and the postal service again riven with industrial unrest, seldom since the bad old days of the 70s and 80s have relations between workers and bosses been exposed to the full glare of the media spotlight.

For months, commuters on the c2c rail line have had to put up with having their trips to work disrupted by industrial action. This week, Southend post office workers also voted to support a strike.

Prime Minister Tony Blair felt moved enough to denounce strike action as a "totally unacceptable way to resolve a dispute in this day and age" and dark mutterings about more union-friendly legislation sending industrial relations sliding back to the days of the Winter of Discontent are again being heard.

But is this picture a true reflection of the relationship between employees and employers?

Certainly it's a fact that, nationwide, the number of strike ballots doubled during the year 1999/2000, while the number of days lost to industrial action rose to 282,000.

However, the proportion of strike ballots that actually resulted in action fell over the same period and the days-lost figure has some way to go before it approaches the staggering 21 million lost in 1979.

In fact, speaking to unions and businesses in Essex, it soon becomes clear that while there is an element of tension in some sectors, industrial relations in general remain remarkably civil.

Karen French, Essex's senior conciliation advisor for the arbitration service, ACAS, said: "Our experience is that things are a lot better now than they used to be. Essex is certainly not a hotbed of industrial disputes, mainly because trade unions and employers have come to realise that working together is to everyone's benefit."

John Clayton, of the Essex Chambers of Commerce said: "Things really did get bad in the Seventies, but the number of days lost to strikes since than has improved beyond all recognition.

"In recent years it has been very ,very low. People just don't think about going on strike any more. The trend has deteriorated slightly just recently, but we are certainly not returning to the Seventies. We are confident that it is just a short term blip."

The New Holland tractor plant in Basildon was brought to a standstill by strike action last year, but even there, company spokesman Alan Fuller insists that relations with the unions are good.

"We had some problems, but they were the first for about six years and they were resolved in exactly the right way," he says.

"We are getting on with the job and have established good relations with the unions. We have day-to-day discussions with them, allowing both sides to raise topics so we can sit down and find the best way forward."

But in spite of the improvements, tensions still remain. Ron McKay, regional organiser of the construction union UCATT, said: "Certain employers, particularly in the construction industry, still behave like Victorian mill-owners.

"People are frustrated and it's no surprise they are looking towards more traditional ways of resolving disputes, including industrial action."

The full version of this article appears in today's Evening Echo

Published Monday January 14, 2002