CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Trade disputes (emergency provisions) decree, 1968 defined strike as meaning the cessation of work by a body of persons employed action in combination, or a concerted refusal or a refusal under a common understanding of any number of persons employed to continue to work for an employer in consequence of a dispute, done as a means of compelling their employer to accept or not to accept term of employment and physical conditions of work.

Therefore, strike is one word that is thorn in the flesh of management.  Each time the organized labour embarked on any strike, substantial output is lost.  For instance, during the first general strike of 1949 and 1993 (Asu strike) when the government disagreed with civil servants on wags and allowance, about 30 working days were lost.  Output dropped substantially as a result government had to increase or enhanced their welfare packages in a bid to resolve the crisis.

Notably between 1980, 1982, 1993 and 2000 general strike respectively there was a spate of industrial and disputes and work stoppage in the country resulting in a large loss in man-hours and productivity.  This spate of industrial unrest was evidently a result of lack of adequate attention to the human factor in the running of the business organization.  This relegation of the human factor to the background by the management has been a serious but a latent cause of increased strike action with its resultant consequences.  It is therefore the purpose of this work to probe into this and acquaint the management with tools for combating this hydra-headed monster.

1.2     STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The unstable industrial relation climate in Nigeria, within the last decade has resulted in an all time record of lost working hours, unprecedented spate of disputes and an unmatched number of work stoppages as a result of strike.

In the 1945 general strike action, Nigerian lost 45 working days, similarly, in the first six months of 1982, it was also a total of 4,598,855 man hours because of strike actions embarked upon by the workers.

This represented a 42% increase in the earlier ones during the first half of 1981 one is even more than 100% higher than the 2,244,984 man-hours.  Besides these alarming strike occurrences, there are many others in the hundred not officially reported. It is against this background that this research effort is consummated with the definite mission of providing answers to the following questions.

1.          Is strike the only effective means of achieving union aims?

2.          If strike occurs, what are the procedures for setting them?

3.          Are such trade disputes and industrial unrest as a result of unsettled grievance?

1.3     PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of the study is to probe into the effectiveness of strike action as a means of achieving union aims from management.  The study is based on a case study of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Delta State.

Specifically, the study is focused on the following issues.

1.          To identify the causes of trade disputes

2.          To find out the tools for achieving union demand from government

3.          To identify the effectiveness of strike action in achieving union aims measured against the regular occurrence of strike actions.

1.4     RESEARCH QUESTION

The interest of this study is restricted in finding out how strike action and its effectiveness in achieving union aims. 

Therefore, in order to carry out and achieve this study, the following research questions will enable the researcher to arrive at a reliable and valid conclusion.

(1)   Can strike action be used in achieving union aims?

(2)   Has strike action helped your union in obtaining its demand from management?

(3)   Has your union been involved in any strike actions arising out of unsettled grievances?

(4)   Is a strike action the only effective means of achieving unions objectives?

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