1) Explain fully the status of registered and unregistered trade union and

the consequences of the Trade Union Act 1973

2) Identify the Trade Dispute Act 1976 and explain the powers of
the minister of labour on the conciliation and arbitrations of
trade unions

PREPARED BY

KAYODE OLADIPUPO OLAYEMI

SEPTEMBER, 2010

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 INTRODUCTION

“Trade Union means any combination whether temporary or permanent formed

primarily for the purpose of regulating the relations between workmen and

employers or between workmen and workmen or between employers and employers

or for imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct of any trade or business and

includes any federation of two or more trade unions”. The term trade union

however is commonly used to refer to the organization of workers formed to

protect their rights and enhance their welfare.

According to V.V. Giri, “Trade unions are voluntary associations of workers formed

together to promote and protect their interests by collective action.”

According to Nigeria trade union Act, “trade unions” means any combination of

workers or employers, whether temporary or permanent, the purpose of which is to

regulate the terms and combination in question would or would not, apart from this

Act, be an unlawful combination by reason of any of its purposes begin in restraint

of trade, and whether its purposes do or do not include the provision of benefit

for its members.

Characteristics of Trade Unions:

1. Association: A trade union is an association or combination of employees.

2. Voluntary: Membership of a trade union is voluntary. Generally there is no legal

or other pressure to join a trade union. An employee has a choice whether he wants

to join or not to join a trade union.

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3. Temporary / Permanent: A trade union is a continuing, permanent or a

temporary, casual association. It has to be a long-term body as otherwise it cannot

achieve its objectives.

4. Collective action: Trade unions always act through united action of members to

promote and protect their economic and other interests.

5. Community of similar interests: Members of a trade union have common

interests and problems which motivate them to unite. A union seeks to regulate

relations between employers and workers.

Objectives of Trade Unions:

According to the Trade Unions Act, “A trade union must work to protect and

promote the interests of the workers and conditions of their employment.” The

main objectives of a trade union are:

1) To secure for the workers fair wages in the light of the cost of living and the

prevailing standards of living.

2) To improve working conditions by securing shorter working hours, better leave

facilities, adequate social security, better housing and education and other welfare

measures.

3) To ensure security of employment by resisting retrenchment.

4) To assure workers a share in the increased profitability of industry through

payment of adequate bonus.

5) To secure for the workers a say in the management and industrial democracy,

thereby bringing about a new social order.

Functions of Trade Unions:

1. Militant or intra-mural functions: These functions include protecting the

workers’ interest through collective bargaining and direct action. Trade unions

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safeguard workers against all sorts of exploitation by the employers and political

parties. Trade unions provide protection from unfair practices and atrocities of

the management. They also attempt to secure for the workers fair wages, proper

working conditions and welfare facilities so as to secure a desirable standard of

living.

2. Fraternal or extra-mural functions: These functions include providing financial

and non-financial assistance to the workers during periods of lock-out and strikes.

These functions include medical facilities during sickness. These functions also

include provision of education, recreation and housing facilities etc.

3. Social functions: These functions include carrying out social service activities,

discharging social responsibilities. They can play a vital role in tackling social evils

like corruption, nepotism, casteism, regionalism, black marketing etc and in

promoting national integration.

4. Political functions: These functions include affiliating a union to a political party,

helping the political party in enrolling members, seeking the help of political parties

during strikes and lock-outs.

5. Ancillary functions: These functions include a) Communication: Trade unions

communicate their activities, programmes, decisions and achievements to their

members through publications of newsletters and magazines. b) Education: Many

trade unions make arrangements for the education of workers and their family

members. c) Human resource development: Many trade unions take initiative and

provide for further vocational training, workshops, seminars etc. to further

advance the careers of their members and to increase their chances to end up in a

higher paying job.

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 Role of Trade Unions / Why Do Workers Organize Into Unions:

1. Steady employment: Workers form into a trade union to secure for themselves, a

security of service. Unions take political action to get legislative protection against

dismissal. They also resist any attempts by the employer to retrench workers.

2. Economic benefits: An individual worker will never be in a position to secure good

pay and proper working conditions from the employer. He joins a union because

unions have great bargaining power to get these economic benefits for the

workers.

3. Check on arbitrary action: If the workers are not invited, an employer may adopt

arbitrary policies and procedures to exploit them. Workers form unions to ensure

formulation of rational and uniform personnel policies and their unbiased

implementation on the part of the management.

4. Economic security: Unions protect their members from various economic hazards

like illness, accidental injury and unemployment. Unions contact employers to pay

compensation and retirement benefits. Unions also have funds to provide financial

support to distressed members.

5. Self-expression: Workers join unions to communicate with the management.

Union serves as a platform through which a worker makes his voice heard by the

employer.

6. Sense of belongingness: An ordinary worker has little sense of belongingness in

modern industry. By joining a union he can associate with fellow-workers and gain

social respect. He can also discuss his problems with leaders of the trade union.

Trade unions generate a spirit of self-reliance and self-respect among workers.

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7. Industrial relations: There is a need for an adequate machinery to maintain

proper relations between management and labour. A trade union provides this

machinery through collective action. Therefore workers join a union.

8. Recognition & participation: Workers can gain recognition as equal partners with

the employer by joining unions. They can even participate in the management of the

industry. They can influence decisions that affect their interests through

collective bargaining.

THE STATUS OF REGISTERED AND UNREGISTERED TRADE UNION

Unregistered Trade Union

According to the Nigeria Trade Union Act, the following are the status of

the Unregistered Trade Union:

(1) A trade union shall not perform any act in furtherance of the purposes for

which it has been formed unless it has been registered under this Act:

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall prevent a trade union from taking any

steps (including the collection of subscriptions or dues) which may be necessary

for the purpose of getting the union registered.

(2) Where a trade union registered under this Act ceases to be so registered, it

shall not thereafter perform any act in furtherance of its purpose:

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall prevent a trade union from taking any

steps which may be necessary for the purpose of dissolving the union.

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(3) If any act which is prohibited by subsection (1) or (2) of this section, is

performed by a trade union, then-

(a) The union and every official thereof; and

(b) Any member thereof who, not being an official thereof, took any active
part in the performance of that act, shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.

From the aforementioned status of the unregistered trade union as deduced

from the Nigeria Trade Union Act, it is very clear that a trade union shall not

enjoy any of the rights, immunities or privileges of a registered trade union until it

is registered. Unregistered trade union has no right to sue or fight for any right

but it can be sue if found violating the law.

Status Registered Trade Union

According to the Nigeria Trade Union Act, the following are the status of

the registered Trade Union:

A registered trade union is entitled to certain rights and benefits from its status

as a registered union. A registered trade union that is sufficiently representative

of the workers in the workplace is entitled to certain organisational rights such as,

access to the workplace, the payment of union subscriptions, appointment of shop

stewards and the right to represent its members.

However, in order to retain such entitled status, there are certain obligations that

the Labour Act, chapter 198 imposes on the union. For example, the union is obliged

to keep audited books and records of account, a trade union must maintain a list of

its members, minutes of meetings and ballot papers for a specified period. The act

obliges a registered trade union to annually furnish certain information to the

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minister of Labour .If a trade union is de-registered it loses the entitlement to

organisational rights and the right to represent its members.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE TRADE UNION ACT 1973

In 1973, General Gowon's regime came out with a decree which, among other

provisions, dictated conditions that should be met before any two or more trade

unions could form a federation. This Trade Union Decree sought the legal

regulation of trade unions for the first time in the history of the country. Up till

that point, the formation and recognition of trade unions were voluntary in nature,

a policy that substantially left it to workers and their employers to work out

agreements to suit themselves. The employer was thus neither forced by law to

recognise nor accept any union for bargaining purposes. Of course, the logic of

interdependence was immediate and harsh since no management or employer could

perform all required tasks alone and pressure to stay on in business, alongside

workers' protests in protection of their interests, compelled many of the bigger

employers to recognise many trade unions. The dominance of the voluntary principle

was thus central to private enterprise, seen as part and parcel of democratic life,

especially as the parties in industry were free to exercise their rights and knew

what was best for them.

From facts gathered, it showed that many central labour organizations were

formed between 1942-1975. These unions proffered strategies for sustained

trade unionism, promotion of workers welfare and the generalized magnitude of

national development. It is worthy to note that the rise of unionism was aided by

the nationalist leaders struggle to rid the economy of bad leadership. Thus trade

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unionism and nationalism provided the basis for group collectivism in satisfying this

particular objective.

However, in 1974 – 75, due to the large number of trade unions, the union

movement itself rose to overcome this legacy of division. On September 21, 1974,

S.O. Oduleye a leader of one of the four trade union centres then was being buried

at Apena cemetery and there and then on the platform of what has become known

as the Apena Declaration, the four unions decided to dissolve themselves and form

one central labour organisation. This they did on December 19-20, 1975, when they

formed the second Nigeria Labour Congress.

IDENTIFICATION OF TRADE DISPUTE ACT 1976

Section 37 of the trade disputes Act 1976 as amended defines a trade dispute as;

any dispute between employer and workers which is connected with the

employment or non- employment or the term of employment and physical conditions

of work of any person. As to the method of declaring a trade dispute, the decree

provides that a trade dispute exists when it is declared by either party to the

dispute in accordance with the procedure laid down by law or the dispute is

apprehended by the commissioner of labour. Two major issues stand out clearly

from the above definition of the subject matter of a trade dispute. The first

relates to what constitutes the subject matter of a trade dispute and the second

is who can be parties to a trade dispute. As regards the subject matter of a trade

dispute, the decree succinctly states that it must be connected with one of the

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following: the employment or non-employment of any person, the terms of

employment of any person or the physical conditions of work of any person.

THE POWER OF THE MINISTER OF LABOUR ON THE CONCILIATION AND

ARBITRATIONS OF TRADE UNIONS

Sonubi (1972) noted that some dispute may not be reported to the minister or

Commissioner or apprehended by him as required by the Trade Dispute Decree

1976 as amended. For example, disputes which the parties are able to resolve on

their own are nominally not reported and the parties are not obliged to report such

disputes. Similarly, disputes between & workers and workers and intra union

disputes may not be reported to the Commissioner or apprehended by him. Trade

unions as a matter of policy prefer not to wash their dirty linen in public (Sonubi,

1972; 221 -222).

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 REFERENCES

Adeogur., A. A. (1987): "Strikes and Trade Disputes in the Public Sector". In

Fashoyin, T. (ed.). Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector In Nigeria, Lagos:
Macmillan Nigeria Publishers.

Otobo, Dafe (1987); " Strikes and Lockouts in Nigeria: Some Theoretical Notes" in
Otobo, D. and Omole, M. (eds.); Readings in Industrial Relations in Nigeria, Lagos ;
Malthouse Press Ltd.

Trade Disputes Act No: 7, 1976.

Wedderburn, K.W. The Worker and the Law. London: Pengium, 1965.

Yesufu, T.N. The Dynamics of Industrial Relations: Nigeria Expereince. Ibadan:

University Press, 1982.

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