Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

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

Follow-up to the conclusions of the Committee on the Application of Standards (International Labour Conference, 107th Session, May–June 2018)

The Committee notes the discussion which took place in the Committee on the Application of Standards of the International Labour Conference (hereinafter, the Conference Committee) in June 2018 concerning the application of the Convention by Nigeria. The Committee observes that the Conference Committee, in its conclusions, urged the Government to: (i) bring relevant legislation, including the Trade Unions Act, Trade Disputes Act, Wages Board and Industrial Council Act, the 1992 Decree on Export Processing Zones and the Collective Labour Relations Bill into line with the Convention; (ii) conduct effective investigations and carry out prosecutions with respect to all allegations of anti-union violence and discrimination; and (iii) put adequate and effective enforcement mechanisms in place to ensure that the principles and rights protected by the Convention are effectively applied in practice. Lastly, the Conference Committee repeated the Committee of Experts’ invitation to the Government to accept an ILO direct contacts mission which was to report during the current year on progress made. Observing that the direct contacts mission has not yet taken place, the Committee expresses the hope that the Government will accept it in the near future so that the mission can observe the measures taken and the progress achieved regarding the issues raised in relation to the application of the Convention.

The Committee recalls that it has been referring for many years to observations received from international trade union organizations, in particular the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Education International (EI), and from a national union (the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT)), describing acts of anti-union discrimination, interference and obstruction with regard to collective bargaining, without the Government having sent its comments in this regard. The Committee notes the statement made by the Government representative to the Conference Committee in June 2018, indicating that the country operates a complex social and economic structure, with a federal State and 36 autonomous state governments, and whenever infringements committed by state governments are brought to the attention of the federal Government, the latter, which has responsibility for administering labour issues, makes sure to invite the parties to resolve the issues. For example, with regard to the allegation of the mass dismissal of anti-union nature, in the education sector in the state of Kaduna, the Government indicates that the challenged decision was taken further to a two-year dialogue with the national teaching union to settle the problem of the fraudulent appointment of unqualified staff in primary schools. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any investigations, and the results thereof, into the allegations of anti-union discrimination and interference in the banking, education, electricity, petroleum, gas and telecommunications sectors, as referred to in successive communications from the ITUC. The Committee also requests the Government to send its comments on the allegations of EI and the NUT denouncing the promotion of a non-registered union in the education sector by various state governments, which would appear to constitute attempted interference.

Scope of application of the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that under the provisions of the legislation certain categories of workers (such as employees of the Customs and Excise Department, the Immigration Department, the prison services and the Central Bank of Nigeria) are denied the right to organize and are deprived of the right to collective bargaining. The Government indicates that these exclusions are made on the grounds of the national interest and national security and that the joint advisory committees established in these institutions take care of the interests of the workers, who often enjoy better conditions of work than those employed in other sections of the public sector. Lastly, the Government points out that the proposal to remove the prohibition on the right of these categories of workers to organize will be referred to the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC), which is due to meet in the course of the year. The Committee emphasizes that the exclusion of the abovementioned categories from the right to organize raises issues of compatibility with the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and that it will consider this matter when it next examines the application of Convention No. 87 by Nigeria. Noting that some of the abovementioned categories involve public sector workers not engaged in the administration of the State, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the results of the consultations within the NLAC and any follow-up action taken, particularly with regard to recognition of the right to collective bargaining.

Article 4. Free and voluntary negotiation. The Committee recalls that, further to allegations made by ITUC, it asked the Government to provide explanations regarding the legal obligation to submit any collective agreements on wages to government approval. The Committee recalled 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 negotiation. The Committee notes the Government’s reply that the legal obligation to file collective agreements with the Federal Ministry of Labour only exists for the purposes of registration and verification of their implementation. Moreover, while indicating that in practice there is no restriction with regard to wage increases, in terms of figures or percentages, adopted by an employer, the Government indicates that the question of the prohibition on an employer to grant a general wage increase without ministerial approval, which appears in section 19 of the Trade Disputes Act, will be brought to the attention of the tripartite technical committee which is currently reviewing the labour legislation. The Committee notes the explanations provided by the Government and recalls that the legal provisions establishing the obligation to submit collective agreements for prior approval by the authorities are only compatible with the Convention when they are confined to stipulating that approval may be refused if the agreement has a procedural flaw or does not conform to the minimum standards laid down by general labour legislation (see 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 201). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any measures taken to ensure that the law is aligned with the practice as mentioned and gives full effect to the principle of voluntary collective negotiations in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.

Noting the Government’s statement that it intends to ensure that the reform of the labour legislation in progress which it is undertaking in consultation with the social partners is in conformity with international labour standards, the Committee trusts that the new Collective Labour Relations Act and any other texts adopted in the context of the reform of the Labour Law will be in full conformity with the requirements of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to send copies of the aforementioned texts when they have been adopted.