THE IMPACT OF STRIKE ACTION ON THE ACHIEVEMENT OF TRADE OBJECTIVE

THE IMPACT OF STRIKE ACTION ON THE ACHIEVEMENT OF TRADE OBJECTIVE

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

INTRODUCTION

 

1.1   BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

A work stoppage brought on by a widespread employee (or employees) failure to report for duty is known as a strike action, also known as a labor strike or industrial action. Often, a strike is called in response to employee complaints. When mass labor became crucial in factories and mines during the Industrial Revolution, strikes took on increased importance. Due to the fact that manufacturing owners had significantly more political clout than workers, they were generally quietly declared illegal. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, striking became largely lawful in the majority of western countries.

Sometimes people use strikes to put pressure on the government to alter its policies. The rule of a certain political party or ruler can occasionally become unstable due to strikes. In these situations, strikes are frequently a component of a larger social movement that takes the form of a campaign of civil resistance. A notable example is the stoppage of work by the indigenous railways workers in (1932) led by Pa Michael Imodu during the colonial era and the first general strike of (1945) in Nigeria.

Since 1970 till the present, workers’ demands for better working conditions and pay have increased the frequency of strikes since management frequently fails to adequately meet their needs and demands, particularly in times of economic downturn.AA

But in this study, we’re going to look at the reasons for strikes, including their effects and how they affect the achievement of trade union goals.

The most important part of industrial conflict is strikes. A strike is described as a brief suspension of operations in response to a complaint or demand.

In practice however, it has been difficult to separate strike from other forms of expression of industrial dispute as employer lock out workers and workers themselves embark on strike action.

It is more useful to view both phenomena as part and parcel of the conflict situation, not as opposite. Rarely does a strike occur over a single issue for an obvious cause may be linked with several other issues that not immediately apparent to the observation that have caused dissatisfaction because solutions to them have been long in coming. The actual occurrence of strike depends on several factors including prevailing circumstances. This also goes to show that few strikes occur spontaneously especially as there is no way of guaranteeing that strike actions instead of the other forms of industrial action would be decided upon by workers involved.

Each time strike occurs substantial man-hour is lost, a good example  is the first general strike of (1945), the (1993)   ASU strike where universities in the country was closed for couple of months  thereby causing set back in the tertiary institution.

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC, the two major umbrella bodies of workers union in Nigeria mobilized workers for an indefinite  strike action which commenced on Monday, 9th January, 2012 to drive home the protest against the fuel subsidy removal of January 1st 2012. The government of Nigeria removed fuel subsidy by increasing the price of petrol per litre from N65 to N141 on January 1st 2012.

This nationwide strike affected the country‟s economy negatively where the volume of trading on the floor of the Nigeria Stock Exchange,( NSE) fell by 82 percent, local flights were grounded, and lifting of crude oil was hampered. The strike had a lot of effect on the major sector of the economy as activities of the (NSE) that are trading slumped by 80%, while banks complied with the strike order and closed shop, the NSE opened for business as usual. But at close of trading, only 46.06 million shares were traded in 20 deals.

This is a significant reduction when compared with an average 262 million shares worth about N1.05 billion traded in 2,509 deals the previous week. The Nigeria Labour

To name a few, Congress, (NLC) has led a number of general strikes in the past. The Nigeria Labour Congress threatened the federal government in 2004 with a nationwide protest strike unless it decided to withdraw the controversial fuel tax. Although the Federal High Court had previously ruled that the organization lacked the legal authority to initiate a national strike in protest of government policies, the strike threat was still made.

In this context, the study seeks to understand how strikes affect the achievement of union goals in Nigeria’s public and private sectors, as well as how workers’ representatives in the form of trade unions affect management policies and decisions harmonizing management polices with trade union objectives enhancing efficiency as well as maintain good industrial relation peace and harmony in the work place using.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

coordinating management policies with union goals will increase productivity, preserve positive workplace relations, and promote peace and harmony in the workplace. Just in the last several decades, Nigeria’s shaky industrial relations environment has led to all-time records for lost working hours and work stoppages as a result of strikes.

By December 1981, seven out of the nineteen state governments were barely able to pay the salaries of their employees. By June 1982, Bendel, Rivers, Cross Rivers, Benue, and Imo States owed teachers two to four months in back pay. Teachers in Bendel State actually stopped teaching after not getting their January pay as of April 1982, and junior workers in Cross River State threatened to go on strike, the government paid off a portion of the debt.

Nigeria lost a total of 4,598 man-hours during the first half of 1982 as a result of worker strikes. The recent Nigeria Labour Congress strike in January 2012 cost the nation millions of naira because all the economic sectors that engage in productivity-enhancing activities to increase the country’s gross domestic product were shut down for a few days. utilizing at work

1.3  PURPOSE OF STUDY

The goal of this study is to investigate the efficacy of going on strike to demand management goals from the union. Based on a case study of EMENITE LIMITED ENUGU, this paper

The study specifically focuses on the following issues: methods for getting what the union wants from management by using a strike as one of the main means to that end.

The advice, which will be based mostly on the research’s findings, will be put into practice to increase the efficiency of strike action as a tool for attaining union goals. On the other hand, if the research indicates that a strike is not the best option to advance union goals, then the mentored will undoubtedly be suggested.

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study focuses in particular on how strikes affect a company’s ability to achieve trade union goals. The goal of the study is to examine and enhance organizational management, with a particular focus on EMINITE LIMITED, ENUGU. For this reason, the researcher has read a number of evaluations on the subject of strikes and trade unions, including textbooks in the fields of industrial relations, management, and the social sciences, as well as academicians’ dissertations on related topics, newspaper and journal edits, etc. If all of the arguments made by the various authors were included, the book would be very lengthy. Nevertheless, they have been carefully chosen so that only topics that specifically focus on the influence of strikes on the achievement of trade objectives are taken into consideration.

1.5 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

A task of this sort is difficult to do due to its broad reach and the cost it would entail, including financial difficulties, time constraints, material costs, respondent apathy, and bureaucratic procedures involved in releasing data in the setup of my case study. The research is restricted to the public sectors since it would have been more costly and capital intensive to cover all the public corporations in the nation.

1.6 RESEACH QUESTIONS

Due to its extensive breadth, the cost of the materials required, the respondent’s apathy, and the bureaucratic process involved in resolving disputes, a task of this sort is difficult to complete. Does the presence of a labor union cause more strikes?
Does collective bargaining result in human resource strategies that aid in the union’s goals being met?
Do labor unions have an impact on the formulation and application of management policies?
Has the organization’s goal been negatively impacted by union activities?
Is the management of the union efficient?
Does the union engage in peaceful negotiation to resolve disputes between the employee and the management?
How well-established is the organization’s union-management relationship?
Does management take action when the union positively?leasing data in the organization of my case study. The research would have been more expensive and capital intensive if it were to cover all the public sectors corporation in the country, thus the research

DEFINITION OF TERMS
STRIKE: Strike is defined as a temporary stoppage of work in the pursuance of a grievance or demand.

TRADE UNION: Is a combination of workers who are wages or salary earners form for the purpose of regulating work terms and condition for maintenance and improving the employment condition of their members.

WORKING CONDITION: A comfortable environment (condition of floor and workroom, dressing rooms and cafeteria, temperature and humidity, cleanliness, comfort and safety (of floors, tools and so fort) and efficiency (steady product flow, adequate wage and salary, performance approval, incentive, motivation and welfare services.

GRIEVANCE: situation of dissatisfaction on the part of the worker of the organization.

EMPLOYEE: Refers to worker(s), person(s) responsible for carrying out day to day activities of the organization toward achieving the target goals.

EMPLOYER: Refers to the management board, one who engages human and material resources for the production of goods and services.

MANAGEMENT: Refers in this study to be the body employer and its representatives, foremen and supervisors inclusive.

DISPUTE: Is any argument or disagreement between employer and workers, or between workers and workers which is concerned with the employment and non employment conditions of work of any person.

WORK: This implies any kind of purposive action i.e. whether paid or unpaid, full time or part time, formal or informal with reference to an organization; it used to imply the operation involved in a particular job or work.

ORGANIZATION: A group of people brought together for the purpose of achieving certain objectives, while these members may change the role of organization which is its basic unit is maintained.

LABOUR RELATION/INDUSTRIAL RELATION

It refers to the totality of interaction between an organization‟s management and the organized labour/trade union. Its purpose is to serve the interest of both the state and the working classes. It is often called collective bargaining. It is not only for industrial or manufacturing context, but extends also to issues and procedure concerning employment in any working environment.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: is a process of discussion and negotiation between two parties one or both of whom is a group of persons acting in consent.

LOCKOUTS: refers to the action of an employer in temporarily closing down or shutting down the undertaking or refusing to provide its employees with work with intention of forcing them to either to accept the demand made by them or to withdraw the demand made by them on him.

LABOUR FORCE: they refer to the collection of people who are available to perform work in an economy or organization.

POLICY: A set rules or principle to guide the activities of the members of an organization towards the achievement of a given objective or purpose within a specific time.

HARMONY: Used in this study to mean peace among the workers and management.

SYSTEM: This means chain or line of operational activities.

COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT: This is a contract of employment negotiated between management and a union.

MACHINERY: As a function unit, it means a system by which something is kept in action through which a desired result is obtained.

1.10 THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

Theoretical framework is defined as a theoretical mirror or pillar upon which research work are seen. The importance of it can not be over emphasized. According to Obassi (1999:9), it is a device or scheme for adopting or applying the assumption, a theoretical framework is a way of describing, analyzing, interpreting and predicting phenomenon, it has the potentiality to provide the significance rational of a study. Therefore, it provides the theoretical framework of this study is based on interactionistic perspective organization. A more recent view of conflict is a positive force and necessary for effective performance. This approach encourages a minimum level of conflict within the group in order to encourage self criticism, change and innovation and to help prevent apathy or to quest a tolerance for harmony and the status quo. the overall background of the research.

Conflict perse is not necessarily good or bad but an inevitable feature of organizational life and should be judged in terms of its effect on performance. Even if organization has taken great care to try and avoid conflict, it will still occur. Conflict must continue to emerge despite attempts to suppress it.

For long, the strike as been recognized as a legitimate weapon of workmen for ventilating their grievance or seeking enforcement of right. But it is not a fundamental right because otherwise, it could not have been controlled by statutes like the Industrial dispute Act. The Indian constitution does not consider the right to strike as a fundamental right.

The general right to resort to strike has been recognized by defining the circumstances under which a strike is to be regarded as illegal. The right to strike, however, is not unjustified; it is a relative right which can be exercised with due regard to the right workers. A strike therefore, should be used as a weapon only as the last resort when all avenues have proved futile and so long as it is used in a restrained peaceful manner for good and justifiable reasons.

Mahatma Gandhi recognized the workers right to strike but he warned that such a strike should be conducted when all other methods have failed. The national commission on labour is of the opinion that “The right to strike and the right to lockout with reasonable restraint have been recognized in all democratic societies, though the degree of freedom grated for the exercise has varied in different countries. According to the social, economic and political system prevailing there”     BACKGROUND/ HISTORY OF THE STUDY

Emenite Ltd is an abestor roofing ceiling sheet producing company incorporated in (1961) with registration number Rc 2712. It started operations in (1963).  The company is a member of the Belgium Etex group.

OWNERSHIP

The company is a joint venture between the eteroutremer society Anonyme of

Belgium (now Etex group S.A) and the Anambra and Imo state (now Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi state) government with a shareholding capacity  of 51% and 45% respectively as at March, 24 (1988).

The company was formerly  named Turner Abestor cement company Nigeria limited, with shareholder of 80% to Turner  and Newall Ltd and government of eastern Nigeria 20% as at 1961. In 1973 due to the decree on indigenization, the shareholding changed to Turner and Newall Ltd with 60% to the company and 40% to Eastern government as the company changes its name to Turner building products (Emene) limited.

In 1988 after Turner and  Newall diverted  interest  in the company, it transferred it 51% shareholding to  Eteroutremer society Anonyme of Belgium (Now Etex group  S.A) The remaining  share of 45% went  to the Easter government of Nigeria and had a change of name which is known as Emenite up to date.