Crane strike reveals strain in UK construction

A tower crane operator strike on 27 January was ultimately the result of failings in UK government policy, according to the Construction Plant-hire Association.

CPA said these failures “created a perfect storm of weak demand, rising costs and escalating industrial disputes.” The industry is suffering with less work and higher employment costs which prevent employers from being able to increase wages, the association reported.

Many of the UK’s crane rental companies are CPA members. The collapse in construction activity quickly means lower utilisation in the tower crane company rental fleets, with a knock-on negative impact on the mobile crane fleets used to erect and dismantle tower cranes.

The tower crane operator strike was at the UK division of CPA member Wolffkran which the association said experienced a 26 per cent fall in utilisation since 2016, with 40 % fewer cranes out on hire and a rental rate decline of as much as 25 %.

Perfect storm

Steve Mulholland, CPA chief executive

Steve Mulholland, CPA chief executive, said, “This dispute is the product of a perfect storm created by Labour. Construction activity collapsed throughout 2025, yet employers were hit with higher National Insurance, higher minimum wages and growing regulatory burdens at exactly the same time.

“Plant-hire firms stood by their workforce through long periods of poor utilisation but cash has been draining out of the sector for over a year. Highly skilled operators understandably want to protect pay differentials, but those expectations are colliding with the reality of a market where work has dried up and hire rates are being pushed down.

“The government’s continued support for a big-state, high-tax approach is exacerbating the problem. Employers cannot give in to unrealistic demands when policy decisions have stripped work out of the market and driven costs up simultaneously.”

Without easing the tax burden on employment these disputes will keep happening and delivery will fall further behind, Mulholland said.