CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Labour unionism is part of a wider concept – the labour movement – which consists of several more or less intimately related organizations such as labour parties, workers’ mutual insurance organization, producers’ and consumers’ cooperatives by way of improving the material, cultural and social status of their members. A trade or labour union, according to Webs (1920:1) “is a continuous association of wage – earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment”. Labour unions are permanent and continuing democratic organization voluntarily created by workers to protect themselves at their work place and to improve their working conditions through collective bargaining, membership and education, political lobbying and campaigning etc and to provide an effective means of „expressing workers’ views on societal problem (Odey and Young 2008). They negotiate wages and working conditions and settle disputes (Gregorio 2004). They also provide forum through which collective bargaining is used primarily to secure improvements in workers’ wages and conditions of service (Dalhatu 2007). As Dalhatus (2007) noted, the economic pace in Nigeria is dilated of government and the large corporations – and the terms and conditions of service set by them not only influence them mutually, but also determine the standard which the small enterprise and the single employer must conform to or at least aim to attain. Fajana (1995) aptly remarked that while the single employer has always been economically stronger than the workers in terms of bargaining the terms of employment, the portion of the modern corporation and the state is even more overwhelming. This has emphasized the need today, even more than in the past, for workers to organize as a means to effectively enhance their condition of employment

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