TRADE
UNION ORGANISING AND RECRUITMENT IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR OF THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY
– A CASE OF CONSTRUCTION UNION
Research
Project
By
YOUR
NAME
Presented
to Postgraduate School of
University
of Lagos, Akoka in Partial Fulfillment of
Requirements
for the Degree of Master of Science, Industrial Relations and Personnel
Management.
November, 2017.
ABSTRACT
The rate at which trade unions we have in the formal
sector of the Nigerian economy are currently loosing their membership are so
alarming. This loss in membership could be attributed to some problems among
others which include: a combination of legislative changes that have undermined
collectivism, a further decentralization of collective bargaining to plant or
company level, a range of human resource management initiatives and practices,
and a form of company-based unionism in which collective interests of labour
are increasingly disconnected from the wider labour movement. For Nigerian
trade unions to continue to be relevant and to assume their strategic positions
in the society, trade unions should continuously grow in membership. They must
continue to organize and recruit their members from whichever sources they may
deem fit. This study therefore focuses
on trade
union organizing and recruitment in the informal sector of the Nigerian economy
– A Case of Construction Union. This
study examined the various problems that face trade union officials in trade
union organizing and recruiting and how these problems can be solved. This
research method adopted in obtaining the data for this work was majorly
questionnaire. The population of this study consists of trade union members and
officials in the construction union. The researcher studied about 10 companies
that are members of this union and from which this union draws its membership.
The data that were collected were analyzed using the chi-square analytical
technique.
One of the findings of this study was
that effective trade union organizing and recruiting will increase trade union
membership in the formal sector of Nigerian economy. This study also showed that informal sector organizing and recruiting can
contribute to the growth and development of trade unionism in Nigeria.
It was also found from this study that lack of education
and organizing skills decrease trade
union officials’ organising and recruitment efforts.
It was also found from this study that workers
collectivity through trade unionism is the best
strategy to solving problems at workplace and of
making trade unions relevant in the future. It was
recommended that:- trade union officials should be sincere
and have concern for their union members; trade union officials should organize
intensive education, enlightenment, sensitization and mobilization programmes
for their workers and other potential members especially in the informal
sector; Efforts should be made towards recruitment of contract staff and casual
staff as union members etc
CHAPTER
ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The
informal sector is a catalyst to the economic development of any nation.
Considering the pivotal roles they play in the society, they are major
determinant of level of development that can be attained by any society. This
group include the bricklayers, shoe makers, carpenters, artisans, tailors,
market men and women, pot makers, guides etc.
The
exact origin of trade union in Nigeria is not known. Some schools of thought
hold it that trade union was imported into Nigeria from Europe with the coming
of the European to West African shores in the 19th Century. Other
school of thought believes that trade union came along with colonialism.
According
to Fajana S. (2000), a school of though considered guilds, mutual aid
societies, carpenters unions etc as trade unions. These were pre-colonial
organizations regulating entry into their various professions, imposing levies
and prescribing code of entries into their trades. Since these were largely not
into wage employment, they cannot be regarded as modern trade unions.
Fajana
further noted that another school of though has it that trade unionism might be
an import of colonialism. (Otobo1989, Fajana 2000) noted that this claim could
not be true given the fact that in some countries where colonialism was
introduced never witnessed the emergency of trade unionism. According to Fajana
(2000), the first union formally organized in Nigeria was the Civil Service
Union (CSU) in 1912. This union was formed because it was in vogue in other
African countries. In 1931, two other unions were formed – the Nigerian Union
of Teachers (NUT) and the Railway Workers Union (RWU). The Railway Workers
Union was part of the CSU until it broke off because it was dissatisfied with
the tempo with which the CSU was pursuing industrial relations activities.
Similarly, the NUT wanted a better forum where they could maintain good
professionalism and forge a good standard of education in Nigeria. The NUT was
also dissatisfied with the wide differential that existed in wages of
government teachers and their mission school counterparts, Fajana (2000) noted.
Although
formal organization of workers into unions dates back to 1912, yet, no
significant development in industrial relations took place until the late
1930s. Trade unionism in Nigeria is a recent development.
Reasons for Late Development of
Trade Unionism in Nigeria
Fajana
(2000) identified some factors that led to late development of trade unionism
in Nigeria and they include the following:
·
Limited wage employment
·
Repressive colonial labour policy
·
Low level of economic activities
·
Ignorance
·
Social values, e.g. the paternalistic
employment relationship, and
·
Absence of a legal backing
After
the passage of sometimes, however, these impediments were eradicated.
Consequently, the number of trade union registered in Nigeria grew like wild
fire. So many reasons were adduced for this according to Fajana. These include
the following:
·
Increase in industrial development and
the emergent of two sector economy in Nigeria. Hitherto, Nigerian economy was
dominated by the public sector. The emergence of small indigenous and
increasing number of large multinational corporations led to wide spread
employment in the private sector apart from employment in the public sector.
·
Furthermore, there were external
influences from neighbouring countries such as Sierra Leone. It was said that
CSU was a copy from Sierra Leone.
·
The giving of legal backing for Nigerian
unions by the colonial administration through the passage of the Trade Union
Ordinance in 1938. This ordinance which came into force in 1939 provided legal
backing for existing unions and facilitated the formation of new ones.
Specifically, the law allowed any group of five or more workers to form a trade
union. The Trade Union Ordinance can be regarded as a very permissive law since
it encouraged indiscriminate formation of trade unions. These led to the
formation of so many ineffective trade unions which continued until the 1970s.
·
Other factors that led to the growth and
development of trade unionism in Nigeria are the 2nd World War of
1939-1945 and the emerging nationalist movement in Nigeria. The war brought
serious hardship both to workers and the general public in the form of acute
shortages of essential commodities with the corresponding rise in prices and
stagnant money wage, so that when rationing was introduced in Lagos, workers
joined trade unions in large numbers.
Brief History of Informal Sector of
Nigeria
The
informal sector has been playing important roles in the Nigerian economy even
long before the coming of the colonial masters into African shores at the early
19th century. This sector includes a wide range of occupations and
economic activities roughly divided into “dependent” wage earners and
self-employed or “own-account entrepreneurs. The case examples included in this
report cover domestic work, construction, taxi drivers; truck drivers, street
vendors, waste-pickers, home-based work, day laborers, blacksmith, carpenters,
tailors, shoe makers, carpenters, artisans, tailors, market men and women, pot
makers, guides and others.
Trade
unions emerged with the early development of modern industrial society which is
capitalism. The earliest trade unions where formed by workers who suffered in
the hands of the early capitalists, at the beginning of the nineteenth century
in Britain. These early workers who formed union combinations were guild
masters, journey men. With the introduction of large scale production using
machineries and factories, there was no way they could continue with their
various trades such as carpentry, blacksmithing, fitting and joining, weaving
and spinning etc, and compete favourably with the much cheaper products that
come off the factory line. They thus became wage-slaves, selling their labour
power to the capitalists who owned the factories. But their employment
relations were still largely informal, as very few of them –and these were
largely the supervisors and foremen- had contracts of employment. They however
still remembered when they were the masters of their trades as guild masters or
even where they were journeymen, how they could have hoped to one day be guild
masters. The use of “trade” as the adjective for their “clubs” and later
“unions” itself showed their craftsmanship origins.
As with today’s informal sector workers’ unions, these early trade unions were not recognised by the employers or governments. They won their recognition only through struggle. A number of them were jailed, some were sent on exile and still a number were killed like mere criminals for fighting for their rights as human beings in the workplace. To prevent workers from combining to form trade unions, the British government had passed legislation known as the “anti-combination laws” late in the eighteenth century. These were not repealed until 1824. And it was only then that trade unions became legal entities for the first time. As trade unions grew in strength and their recognition by governments and employers became stronger, it was easier for them to negotiate the formalization of their members’ employment relations within factories and the corporate world. Step by step, workers rights became recognized as part of human rights, and trade union rights could be invoked using the laws that had been passed based on the strength of unions. The continued relevance of trades unions however remained in their organizing.
As was the case on the global level, starting in Britain, the earliest trade unions in Nigeria organized workers in the informal sector. These were the mechanics who established the Mechanics Mutual Aid and Improvement Association in 1883. The earliest unions in the formal sector were however formed in the civil service. This was unlike the situation in those countries that first became capitalist in Europe where the earliest unions were in the private sector, comprising informal workers who then got their employment relations formalized through struggle. The reason for this situation in Nigeria is the nature of capitalism that comes through colonialism as against that which emerged “naturally” in Europe. In European countries, work relations in the civil service had been formalized for a longer time. Indeed the roots of the civil service go back to the middle age of European civilization where a core of men, often from the ranks of lower and middle-level “gentlemen”, such as knights, were dedicated to the service of the crown as clerks, administrators and managers of the finances of the king or queen. This group of men (and later women) had to be kept happy and relatively contented with employment security.
In the colonies, for a long time the British and other colonialists did not allow much large-scale production to prevent competition with British and other western goods. But they needed clerks and messengers, porters and carriers and as the colonial state built harbours and railways, they needed manual, semi-skilled and even skilled labour to work for the colonial governments. Thus, not surprisingly, apart from the informal economy, the bulk of working people in the urban areas especially, where in the public service. These workers felt the pangs of exploitation by their foreign bosses and this also went with discrimination based on their skin colour. The spirit of trade unionism spread amongst them and they became the first group of workers in the formal sector to form trade unions. (Aye B. 2011)
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS
Union organizing is all about workers coming
together to collectively solve some, if not all of the problems encountered at
their workplace. Some problems that workers in general face on the job include:
discrimination (gender, ethnic, religious), lack of respect, low wages, little
to no benefits, lack of seniority rights, bad treatment by superior, short
staffing, no voice in decision-making, unsafe working conditions, casualization
of work, outsourcing and indiscriminate termination of appointment among others.
There are different options open to a worker who is
faced with a workplace problem and who does not want to belong to union. Some
of such options or alternatives that workers have to solve these problems
include: go to their supervisor to see if it can be resolved, complain about
it, go to a government agency to file a charge (in cases of discrimination), go
to court for remedy or even quit the job.
There are however problems with the options listed
above. In the case of complaint to a supervisor, he (supervisor) does not have
to listen to the worker and improvement may be short lived, if you report to a
government agency or sue for legal redress, it may take years for a government
agency to investigate and years to get legal redress in court. The worker may
also not have the financial means to sustain a court action. If the worker
quits the job, quitting does not solve the problem at that workplace and there
is a small likelihood that the worker will quickly find a significantly better
job elsewhere considering the high level of unemployment in the country. The
best option open to a worker on solving workplace problems is acting
collectively as a group under the umbrella of a union to make desired changes
happen.
The current state of many workers in the informal
sector of the Nigerian economy is not encouraging. Some problems militating
their organization into trade union include the following:
·
High level of
illiteracy
·
Poor financial
base (poverty)
·
Lack of trade
union organizing and administrative skills
·
Problem of
coordination
·
Ethnic and
religious discrimination
The trade unionism we have in the formal sector of
the Nigerian economy are unfortunately loosing their membership due to some
problems among others which include: a combination of legislative changes that
have undermined collectivism, a further decentralization of collective
bargaining to plant or company level, a range of human resource management
initiatives and practices, and a form of company-based unionism in which
collective interests of labour are increasingly disconnected from the wider
labour movement.
Unfortunately, the decline of trade union membership
creates a number of risks which includes:
·
Loss of
credibility in representing workers generally,
·
Loss of
influence with governments (affecting a wide range of industrial legislation
and the various elements of the social wage such as health, education and
social security).
·
Less financial
ability to run organizations, employ staff and provide services to members,
·
Loss of power
at industry and other levels to influence decisions affecting large numbers of
workers,
·
Loss of
bargaining strength at individual work places
·
Non-unionists
undercutting conditions to the detriment of unionized workers.
When one considers the
informal sector of the Nigerian economy the problem of the employees exercising
their rights is even more serious and prone with problems. The inability to
organize this sector into a formidable force that could rise to any challenges
that confront workers is the main problem facing trade union organizing in this
sector. The way this sector is structured and the number of people that make up
each firm in this sector are still too small. These are the major problems that
confront any trade union official that wants to rise to defend the workers in
this sector.
1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The cardinal objective of this study is to
understand trade union organizing and recruitment in the informal sector of the
Nigerian Economy. Other objectives include:
·
To understand
the strategies and techniques involved in trade union organizing and
recruitment in the informal sector of the Nigerian Economy,
·
To find out
how informal sector organizing and recruiting can contribute to the growth and
development of trade unionism in Nigeria.
·
To find out
the causes of decrease in trade union membership in the formal sector in
Nigeria,
·
To find out
how these problems can be solved
·
To find out
how trade unionism can still be made more relevant in the future.
1.4 RELEVANT
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What are the strategies and techniques involved
in trade union organizing and recruitment in the informal sector of the
Nigerian Economy?
2. How can the informal sector of the Nigerian
economy contribute to the growth and development of trade unionism in Nigeria?
3. What are the causes of decrease in trade union
membership in the formal sector in Nigeria?
4. How can these problems be solved?
5. How can
trade unionism still be made more relevant in the future?
1.5 RELEVENAT RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
1. H0: Effective trade union organizing and recruiting will not increase trade
union membership in the formal sector of Nigerian economy.
2. H0: Informal
sector organizing and recruiting cannot contribute to the growth and
development of trade unionism in Nigeria
3. H0: Lack of
education and organizing skills does not decrease trade union officials’
organizing and recruitment efforts.
4. H0: Workers
collectivity through trade unionism is not the best strategy to solving
problems at workplace and of making trade unions relevant in the future.
1.6 SCOPE
OF STUDY
This study focuses on
trade union organizing and recruitment in the informal sector of the
Nigerian Economy. To this
end, the researcher examined trade union organizing and
recruiting in the informal
sector of Nigerian economy. Efforts were made to understand what
is trade union informal
sector organizing and recruiting and what this entail, strategies used in
trade union organizing and
recruiting, how trade union organizing and recruiting can facilitate
the growth and development
of trade unionism in Nigeria, problems militating the growth and
development of trade
unionism in Nigeria and how these problems can be solved. Efforts were
also geared towards
understanding approaches open to employees in solving workplace
related problems. The
setting for this study was restricted to Lagos state.
1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The roles that trade unions play both to their
members and to the larger society are so numerous. It is because of the roles
that trade union do play in the society that makes them very relevant and that
enables them assume important place in every society. These roles include the
following:
·
Firstly, is a
democratic function – allowing workers to have a say in decisions that may
affect them at the work place.
·
Secondly, is
an economic function – helping to find the best possible balance in the
production and distribution of the fruits of growth, that is the sharing of the
industrial cake.
·
Thirdly, is a
social function – ensuring that their members find their place in society,
·
Helping to
eradicate poverty among members and in the society,
·
Combating
social problems such as inner-city violence, social tensions and unrest,
thereby contributing to social stability.
Without a well organized trade union, the above
listed benefits cannot accrue both to workers and to the larger society. For
Nigerian trade unions to continue to be relevant and to assume their strategic
positions in the society, trade unions should continuously grow in membership.
They must continue to organize and recruit their members from whichever sources
they may deem fit. They should not be allowed to die. As it was noted above,
the decline of trade union membership exposes trade unions in Nigeria to
serious problems. As a survival strategy, therefore, it is mandatory for trade
unions in Nigeria to explore all opportunities available to them in the
environment to increase in their membership. This can be accomplished by union
engaging in aggressive recruitment drive and effective organizing. It is
through this means that trade unions can come out of the wools and remain
relevant in the nearest future.
It is on this ground that the researcher deems it necessary to carry out
this research titled: “Trade Union Organizing and Recruiting in
the Informal sector of the Nigerian Economy – A case of Construction Union”
In
this study, the researcher enquired into the remote causes of the recent
decrease in trade union membership, studied various organizing and recruiting
strategies that trade union can use to increase their membership size, how
informal sector in the Nigerian economy can be organized and recruited and how
this sector can also contribute to union growth and development. The findings
of this study shall be made available to trade union officials in Nigeria and
other researchers that may be interested in carrying out further studies in
this area of endeavour. This study shall also be hoisted on the internet to
make them accessible to students and researchers in the future. It is also
hoped that the larger society shall benefit immensely from this work.
1.8
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF TERMS.
Casualization: The
act of making workers to be on temporary or casual basis.
Collectivism:
This
is the process of acting together, of being united in a common goal.
Industrial
Relations: This
is the relationship that exist between an employee and his employer right from
the time the employee joins the organization till the time he leaves the
organization,
Informal
Sector: This
sector includes a wide range of occupations and economic activities roughly
divided into “dependent” wage earners and self-employed or “own-account
entrepreneurs.
Organizing: Trade Union Organizing is the process of bringing
workers together as a united group so that they could use their power of labour
to win changes in their wages and welfare.
Organized
Labour These
are group of workers that have been brought together to improve their working
lives and their wellbeing in the community in which they live.
Recruiting: This is the process
of attracting large pull of job applicants from which the organization can
select men and women who are best qualified to fill their job vacancies.
Trade Union: This
is an association of wage/salary earners formed with the object of safeguarding
and improving the wage and employment conditions of its members and to raise
members’ social status and standard of living in community
Trade Union Recruiting: Trade
Union Recruiting is the process of attracting large pool of people from which
trade unions can then choose people that will form part of their members. It is
a well organized procedure that enables trade unions increase their membership.
Tripartite Relations: This
is the relationship that exists between labour and their trade union
representative, the employers and their managers in offices and the government
and its agencies.
REFERENCES
Asika
N. (2004) Research Methodology – A
Process Approach, Lagos: Mukugamu and Brothers Enterprises, Pages 129-134
Aye B. (2011) Trade
Unions and the informal economy, a critical analysis of informal workers
organizing and the building of workers, Lagos: International Labour and
Economic Relations Association African Region Congress.
Bonner C. and Spooner
D. (2011) Organizing in the Informal
Economy: A Challenge for Trade Unions
Fagbohungbe O. (2002), Research Methods for Nigerian Tertiary
Institutions. Lagos: Kotleb Publisher
Fajana S. (2000) Industrial Relations in Nigeria, Theory and
Features, Lagos: Labofin and Company, page 143
Hyman et al (2012) Organizing Workers in the Informal Economy, Cape Town: USAID
Otobo D. (1995) The
Trades Union Movement in Nigeria, Lagos: Malthouse Press Ltd
The
complete part of this project is available for sale
PROJECT PROPERTIES
Project Status
|
Available
|
Number
of Chapters
|
5
|
Number
of Pages
|
71
|
Number
of Words
|
18,456
|
Number
of References
|
25
|
Project
Level
|
M.Sc.
|
Price
|
N15,000
(Non-Negotiable)or UDS50 in US Dollar
|
Abstract,
Sample of Questionnaire are included
|
|
We can assist you in writing your school's project right from the sourcing of project topic to the
project defending. For more information of how we can be of help to you, contact us on
23408028177177
No comments:
Post a Comment