Strikes are one form of Inaustrial-conflict - furthermore they are distinctive in that they are the ultimate and dramatic action; viz, they bring about a stoppage of work. It is evident that .strikes in Nigeria have been transformed from a purely factory level issue to one of national concern and involvement. Various theories and propositions are advanced to explain how strike activity takes an increasing or decreasing pattern. The major ones (considered in ~his study) being the measures of strike activity choosen, economic and institutional variables and state intervention. The basic measures of strike activity are interdependent but explain differen aspects of the strike. For instance the "Number of Strikes" measure shows the volatility of conflicts, the "Number of Workers Involved" and "Number of Days Lost" measures shows the extent of militancy and the degree of stubbornness of the parties involved respectively. So, for a comprehensive study of the phenomenon all the measures may have to be used. The major economic variables that feature in most studies of strikes include, the business cycle as depicted by boom and recession; unemployment; level of wages and cost of living. In case of a boom, strikes are expected to be frequent but short, and usually concern economic issues especially increases in wages (because of the buoyant economic conditions). By contrast, in recession (usually accompanied by unemployment) strikes will be less frequent, long and on non- economic issues, e.g job protection. There is the notion also that inflation and high costs of living increase the level of strikes. The Nigerian experience however is contrary to these expectations. The institutional elements related to strikes in Nigeria which are considered here are Trade Unions and the Collective Bargaining machinery. Organised unionism is found not to be a pre-requisite for strike actions, and overall size did not influence the occurence of industrial action. However the re-structuring of trade unions did increase the capacity of unions in the conduct of strikes. The institution of collective bargaining has been established to a recogniseable extent in Nigeria, but it did not eliminate strikes although it has minimised their occurence. It is also evident that state intervention in Labour-Management relations is extremely high, the extent is such that third party dis~ute resolution machinary is·~ introduced making strlkes illegal, but that cannot ,and does not bring industrial harmony. On the whole thes~ influential variables are inconsistent in their relationship with strike activit¥; they are themselves influenced by local environmental condltions. However the most importan~si~gle factor that shaped strikes in Nigeria is the effect of the various wage commissions •

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Economia e Administração, Departamento de Administração / Made available in DSpace on 2013-07-15T20:49:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0