INTRODUCTION
The industrial relations system in Nigeria like in most of the other
countries of the world is made of a tripartite body of state, the
employers and the Trade/Labour unions. This complex interrelation
in the Nigerian context has been a rocky one plagued with
incessant conflicts and a high level of strike propensity making it a
subject of debate and research in recent years.
Going by the Trade union Act, the statutory definition of Trade
union refers to as any combination of workers or employees and
employers whether temporary or permanent, the purpose of which
is to regulate the terms and condition of employment. Meaning the
principal purpose of trade union is the regulation of terms of
employment and conditions of work. This definition means that
trade union also covers employers association; however, employers
and workers union cannot combine to form one body oftrade union
due to the conflicting nature of their interest.
THE ORIGIN OF TRADE UNION IN NIGERIA
The origin of trade union in Nigeria can be traced to 1987 where
the firs industrial action of workers was recorded in Nigeria, The
trade union movement emerged out of this early resistance.
The first formal trade union was established on the 19 of August,
1912. It was called The Nigeria civil service union. However, this
union was not recognized and therefore suffered harassment by
employers and this setback kept them until 1938 when the trade
union ordinance was enacted. This law opened the way for the
registration of trade union in the country. Various theories as
propounded by various school of thoughts were taken into
consideration for the formation of trade unionism in Nigeria.
(1) MARXIST THEORY: The theory as propounded by Karl Marx is that
of political revolution and class struggles. The theory sees the
workplace as consisting of two distinct social classes, the capitalist
who are controllers of production processes and his working class
also known as the proletariat. Marxist postulates the
exploitationof the working class by the capitalist which the state is
in support. According to Marx, the unending conflicts between the
capitalist and the working class due to the conflicting nature of
their interest ( the capitalist seeks maximum profit while the
working class seek maximum rewards for labour) will ultimately
lead to a revolution that will bring about a change in social order
and abolishment of capitalist system.
To the Marxist, asides from the economic role of ensuring a fairer
system of rewards allocation, the proletariats will have to be
involved in in political action in order to achieve economic quality.
Marx emphasizes that trade unions are the school of socialism,
and they should use their structural identity to merge with political
structures to advance their course while they maintain a strong
functional unity among themselves.
(2) LENIN’S THEORY: This theory is one that sees trade union as an
economic and political movement like karlmarx. It is however
different in the sense that Lenin says that while the working class
by nature of their needs meet trade union consciousness. Lenin
admits the need for outside help of intellectuals to provide
education and organization on revolutionary leadership which will
drive the establishment of proletariat dictatorship, making
possible the establishment of socialism.
(3) SIDNEY AND BEATRICE WEBB THEORY: The webs perceived trade
unionism as an extension of democracy of the political sphere to
the work community. They believe the goals of trade unions are
not solely about wage increments and improve working conditions
but also the society through the elimination of the capitalist
society. Including other theories.
FORMATION OF TRADE UNION IN NIGERIA
The development of trade unions in Nigeria can be categorized into
three parts namely
The pre-ordinance period between 1900 and 1938, in this era it
was mainly craft and trade organizations like he association of
goldsmiths, hunter etc. that were known before three unions
namely The southern Nigerian civil service, National Union of
Teacher(NUT), Nigerian union of railway men was birthed. These
unions tried their best in defending workers interest but did not
have legal backing as trade unions had no attained legal
registration at the period.
They mobilized forces for lots of agitations concerning wages and
Africanization of post in Federal Civil Service. The agitations led to
the emergence of some unrecognized mushroom unions that
showed interest in improving working conditions but were effective
on collective terms. There was also no collective bargaining in this
period as the unions were not legally recognized.
-The restructuring period covering 1938 to 1978, Nigerian trade
unions gained legal recognition in this period through the colonial
trade union ordinance of 1938. The legislation was however loose
and allow for five or more to form a trade union which led to the
formation of over 1000 mushroom trade unions that were badly
managed and disorganized. These discourage many from joining
leading to the problem of member apathy and domination by the
active minority.
The unions in this period solely relied on financial aid from foreign
trade union bodies, there were no adequate facilities for labour
education, there were inter-union rivalries and hostility towards
each other and union leaders lacked the skill and exposure to
engage in collective bargaining effectively. All these led to the
sanitization by the government in 1975.
Industrial unionism from 1978 to date, due to the problems
associated with the several unions formed in the restructuring
period, the government had to setup a tribunal to probe activities
of trade unions from 1960 to 1975 and the report of the tribunal
showed all was not well. The government dissolved the central
trade union and appointed an administrator of trade union to
restructure the over 1000 mushroom unions and to evolve a single
central labour organization. These activities led to the regrouping
into 70 unions 9 of which were for employers association which are
now 23 and 19 for senior staff unions which are now 24 and 42 for
junior staff.
Restructuring brought sanity into the trade union movement as the
legal status brought relief to the union officials especially over
several battles with many employers. Also, the establishment The
of the Nigeria Labour Congress as the central labour body fostered
unity and reduced inter-union tussles, and the check-off that was
made automatic boosted finances and endedreliance on foreign
financial aid with member unions paying 10% of check-off dues to
the NLC.
TYPES OF TRADE UNION IN NIGERIA
There are mainly 4 types of unions in Nigeria namely Craft,
Enterprise, General and, Industrial. However, only the General and
Industrial Unions are still in vogue today. Some also add
Professional unions to the list, Professional unions are those that
cater for the interest of professional employees, but in a strict
sense they are not trade union
THE CRAFT UNION: The Craft Unions refers to craft workers in
single or related occupations such as electricians, plumbers,
mechanics, etc. Enterprise unions are those organized on a one-
company-one-union basis irrespective of the organization’s size
and geographical spread, they were Prevalent in Nigeria in the
1970s. The Industrial Unions were based on industrial inclination
and share a spirit of common employment or occupation both
skilled and unskilled in a particular industry. The Industrial Unions is
the structure currently operating in Nigeria.
Trade Unions can also be classified into Junior Staff Unions, Senior
Staff Unions, and Employers’ Union. The Junior Staff Unions cater
for employees at the lower echelon, Senior Staff Unioncovers
employees in supervisory and foreman ranks while and Employers’
Union caters for the general interests of employers and represent
them in dealings with the labour’ unions.In terms of governance
and coverage, there are Branch, National, and Central Unions. The
Branch level is at grassroots and plant level, the National is the
nationwide organization of workers usually at industrial or sectoral
level while the Central unions are the umbrella bodies covering
both the junior and senior employees’ national unions. Currently,
the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) represents all junior staff as well
as some senior staff unions; while the Trade Union Congress (TUC)
represents senior staff unions affiliated with it.
