This thesis examines changes in industrial relations in the Nigerian textile industry after the 1976 Labour Act. It starts by a brief examination of the existing literature on industrial relations in Nigeria generally, and the textile industry in particular. It moves on to examine the textile industry in the context of the Nigerian economy as a whole. It goes on to examine the development of labour/management relationships in the early years of employment in the industry and more importantly, the contemporary system of industrial relations in the industry. It compares the past and present system of industrial relations in the Nigerian industry with the systems that obtain in other textile industries in the developed (such as the ones in the textile industries in Great Britain, France, West Germany, Italy, America, etc. ) and developing (such as the ones in the textile industries in India, Pakistan, Tanzania, Uganda, Morocco, etc.) countries. The thesis crucially enables us to understand in more detail the system of industrial relations that used to, and now exist, in the Nigerian industrial scene and how the system actually operates at, the level of the workplace. We would discover in this thesis that during the early years of employment in the industry (from 1959) until 1976, the industrial relations system was, to a small extent, akin to the system that obtains in the United Kingdom. However, it was characterised by constant and uninvited government interventions; very weak house unions; an absence of free collective bargaining and thus the arbitrary setting of wages and conditions of service by employers and the frequent engagement in strikes and wild-cat strikes by employees. This early system corresponds closely with that described in the published literature on the Nigerian system of industrial relations. However, after 1976, the textile industry would appear to have adopted a system of industrial relations which is a unique combination of the characteristics of the British and West German systems of industrial relations. Employees in the industry belong to one trade union organisation - the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria - which basically resembles the West German trade union structure; while the introduction of voluntarism; free collective bargaining, and the use of shop stewards (to mention just a few characteristics) are basically similar to those of the British system of industrial relations. We have concluded that the hypotheses have been substantiated - the Nigerian industrial relations system has undergone substantial changes and that the practicalities of the system have produced a model somewhat different from that which we might have expected from a mere examination of the literature. Our fieldwork-based approach being instrumental in disclosing the existence of the role of the Nigerian shop stewards. Lastly, we propose that the contemporary system of industrial relations in this industry should be sustained because of its propensity for peaceful union/management relationships and, indeed, the industry's growth. We note that the contemporary system is, however, beset by a number of problems to which we draw attention.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:349154 |
| Date | January 1983 |
| Creators | Bature, R. R. |
| Publisher | University of Sussex |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.0106 seconds