Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Nigeria (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee notes the new observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), received on 1 September 2017, relating to legislative issues and referring to a high number of allegations of anti-union discrimination and of impediments to collective bargaining. The Committee recalls that, since 2010, it has received many observations from trade union organizations containing serious allegations of violations of the Convention in practice and notes with regret that the Government still has not sent its comments. Noting with concern, in particular, the persistence of many and serious allegations of acts of anti-union discrimination and interference, the Committee urges the Government to ensure that the events reported since 2010, through the various comments of the ITUC, Education International (IE) and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), have been or are being investigated by the public authorities. The Committee urges the Government to send information in this respect.

The Committee notes with concern that the Government’s report has not been received. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments, initially made in 2012.

In its previous comments, the Committee noted that certain comments submitted by international trade union organizations concerned in particular the fact that: (1) according to the Trade Disputes Act, certain categories of workers are denied the right to organize (such as employees of the Customs and Excise Department, the Immigration Department, the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Limited, the prison services and the Central Bank of Nigeria) and therefore are deprived of the right to collective bargaining; (2) every agreement on wages must be registered with the Ministry of Labour, which decides whether the agreement becomes binding according to the Wages Board and Industrial Council Acts and to the Trade Dispute Act (it is an offence for an employer to grant a general or percentage increase in wages without the approval of the Minister); (3) section 4(e) of the 1992 Decree on Export Processing Zones states that “employer–employee” disputes are not matters to be handled by trade unions but rather by the authorities managing these zones; and (4) section 3(1) of the same Decree makes it very difficult for workers to form or join trade unions as it is almost impossible for workers’ representatives to gain free access to the export processing zones (EPZs).

The Committee had noted that the Government had indicated that: with respect to point (1), the Collective Relations Bill has taken care of the mentioned exemptions from the rights to organize and bargain collectively; and as regards points (3) and (4), unionization has commenced, for example, the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, and Technical and Recreational Services Employees has started organizing its members within the EPZs. The Committee takes note of this information.

Concerning point (2), the Committee had previously noted a similar more recent allegation of the ITUC (2009) that private sector collective bargaining rights are restricted by the requirement of government approval for any collective agreements on wages. The Committee notes that the Government had indicated in its report that this practice seeks to ensure that there is no undue economic disruption in a particular industry as there is usually a benchmark agreed to by the relevant employers and trade unions. In this regard, the Committee recalls that legal provisions which make collective agreements subject to the approval of the Ministry of Labour for reasons of economic policy, so that employers’ and workers’ organizations are not able to fix wages freely, are not in conformity with Article 4 of the Convention respecting the promotion and full development of machinery for voluntary collective negotiations. The Committee requests the Government to ensure that the relevant provisions are amended to give effect to the principle of free collective bargaining.

The Committee had noted the Government’s statement that the Collective Labour Relations Bill, which has been elaborated with the technical assistance of the ILO, is still before the National Assembly and will be forwarded when passed. The Committee expects that the Collective Labour Relations Act will be in full conformity with the requirements of the Convention. It requests the Government to send the new law once adopted.

Lastly, the Committee once again invites the Government to accept an ILO mission in order to tackle the pending issues.

The Committee expects that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.