LAS CONCEPCIONES Y TEORÍAS PSICOLÓGICAS COMO ANTECESORES DE LOS MODELOS PEDAGÓGICOS

Three main actors are identifiable in any industrial relations system. Each of these actors normally presents an infinite permutation of goals, objectives, and values which influence, shape,

sustain and transform the industrial relations processes at the firm, indust ry and national levels. It must be

added that the context or environment in which these actors operate sets limits a well as create

opportunities for behaviuor that is optimal. The actors in the industrial relations system include:

the state and its agencies, the workers and their representative trade unions, and the employers of labour. We shall briefly consider these features of each of these actors.

Activity

Consider the organisation you work for or one you are familiar with. List all the main actors of industrial relations that operate in it. Identify the objectives of each of the actors, how each is organised and how each operates.

3.3.1 The State

In Nigeria, as in most other countries in the world, the government's role as employer of labour,

manager of the nation's economy, and maintenance of law and order in the wider society, influences the development and operations of Industrial relations system. Specific agencies of

the state also include, the industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP), the National Industrial Court (NIC)

and the Productivity Price and Income Board (PPIB). A detailed description of these institutions can be found in Fasoyin (1980). It is

common knowledge that since the late 1960's, through the 1970's, the state's traditional policy of non-intervention in industrial relations has drastically changed (see Oribabor, 1988) The establishment of more and more quasigovernmental, industrial relation institutions are evidence of government intention to be more actively involved in monitoring the activities of all decision makers in the industrial relations system.

3.3.2 The Worker and Trade Unions

In terms of industrial relations, this include employees as individuals as work groups and workers representatives such as trade unions and professional association. The enactment of series of Decrees (now Acts) between the late 1960's and 1970's has led to a major transformation of the Nigerian trade union movement. Unions have become a formidable force in Nigeria and also active in general, social and economic spheres of individual industry and the nation as a whole. What are trade unions? The Trade Unions Act of 1973 defines a Trade Union

as any combination of workers or employers, whether temporary or permanent, the purpose of which is to regulate the terms and conditions of employment of workers. From the definition, it

will be appreciated that for an organisation to qualify as a trade union, it must fulfil the fol owing conditions: the combination must be of workers or employers, and it must be for established purpose of regulating the terms and conditions of employment of workers. The general mission of the trade union has traditionally been that of protecting the individual worker, and improving his lot through collective action. The pre-1976 trade union structure in Nigeria was characterised by

mushroom house (and few industrial) unions, numbering over a thousand .The Trade Union Central Labour Organisation Decree No 44 of 1976, cancelled the trade unions' four centres, and the Trade Union (Amendment) Decree No 21 of 1978 formally restructured the unions into 42

junior unions,

affiliated to the Nigerian Labour Congress, as the only labour centre. Of recent, the unions have been reorganised. With the promulgation of the Trade Union (Amendment) Decree No. 4 of 1996, a further restructuring of trade unions different from that of 1978 has come into force.

There are now twenty nine trade unions affiliated to the Nigerian Labour Congress (see Table 4.0)

These developments have important implications for the vital role the trade unions must now play as 'managers of discontent' in the industrial relations systems.

3.3.3 Reasons for the Restructuring of Trade Unions

In December 1975, the Government published its National Labour Policy which represented a fundamental shift in the mode of state intervention in labour relations in Nigeria. It emphasised a shift from an absentionist (Laissez-faire) to an interventionist posture (Oribabor, 1988) The principal objectives of the new policy are as fol ows:

a. The need to give a new sense of direction and new image to the trade union movement;

b. The desirability of removing completely from the trade union arena, ideological or external influences which have plagued Nigerian trade union unity for more than a quarter of a century.

Table 4.0: The new list of Trade Unions Agriculture and Al ied Workers Union Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation

Civil Service, Technical & Recreation Service Employees Medical & Health Workers in Nigeria

National Association of Nigerian Nurses & Midwives National Union of Air Transport Employees

National Union of Banks, Insurance & Financial Institution Employees National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather

Non-Metalic Workers

National Union of Civil Engineering Construction Workers National Union of Electricity Workers

National Union of Food, Beverage & Tobacco Employee National Union of Hotel & Personal Service Workers National Union of Petroleum & Natural Gas Workers National Union of Postal & Telecommunication Employees

National Union of Printing, Publishing & Paper Products Employees National Union of Road Transport Workers

National Union of Shop & Distributive Employees

National Union of Textiles, Garment & Tailoring Workers in Nigeria National Union of Civil Service, Secretarial & Stenographic Works Nigeria Union of Journalists

Nigeria Union of Mine Workers Nigeria Union of Pensioners Nigeria Union of Railway men Nigeria Union of Teachers

Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational St Ass. Institutions Radio, Television & Theatre Workers Union

Steel & Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria

c. The need to rationalise the structure and organisation of trade unions and to ensure they are self-sufficient financially and not dependent upon foreign sources of finance;

d. The need to provide facilities for trade union education, in order to improve the quality of trade union leaders;

e. The need to strengthen the labour's administrative system, through the provision of adequate material and human resources for the Ministry of Labour, for the enforcement of labour laws and regulations.

It was in pursuance of these objectives that the Decrees noted earlier were enacted. Today, Nigerian Trade Unions are now:

—Nigeria Labour Congress;

-sufficient;

Activity

Visit a Trade Union office of the organisation you work for, obtain information onthe organisation and the operation of its union. Prepare a write up on the union for your file. The information should cover the history, structure and activities of the union

3.3.4 The Employer

This category of actors in the industrial relations, comprises of individual managers, group of managers as a collective group and employers as an association — such as the Nigerian

Employers Consultative Association (NECA) which came into existence in 1957, and function particularly in

the private sector, as the sole employers' representative to Government on labour-management matters. Changes in the environment of businesses, and most importantly changes in the role of

state in industrial relations and the growth of trade unionism, have all had great impact on the structure and processes of NECA (see Fashoyin, 1992). In a free-enterprise economy such as it

operates in Nigeria, the primary responsibility for managing the industrial relations structure and processes of an organization falls on management. How this could be achieved by management

is treated later. Suffice to say here that every managerial decision directly or indirectly shapes or influences the structure and tone of industrial relations

of n enterprise. For example, management policies and practices in the fol owing areas shape industrial relations at the workplace:

i) Work-organisation and hence workgroup structure and the contour of occupational groups and trade union structures;

ii) Manning levels;

iii) Work rules and procedures — limits to workers control;

iv) Promotion and deployment procedures;

v) Wages and salary systems — rates, levels, methods of pay determination etc.

vi) Supervision and control systems;

vii) Union recognition and facilities for operation;

viii) Grievance and disciplinary procedures;

ix) Collective bargaining structures and processes.

All these practices are influenced and shaped by the philosophy— whether unitary or pluralistic managers are subscribed to. A final point to note, in terms of the interaction between the actors

in the industrial relations system, is that 'good' industrial relations is viewed as a shared responsibility of all the three main actors (or stakeholders) in the system.

Activity

What are the common labour-management problems that you are aware of in the organisation you work for