Making the declaration in a lecture he delivered at the 2016 Annual Seminar of the Ministry of Defence unit of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), the Secretary-General of the Union, Comrade Alade Bashir Lawal, stated that while the management and the workers have their respective interest to protect during negotiation, they must always be guided by the knowledge that the survival of the organisation in question is a primary prerequisite for their continued existence as management and workers.
“This is precisely why industrial relations experts always recommend that employers and the employees must learn to moderate their demands on each other and accord the corporate interest of the organisation a priority while pursuing their separate goals,” he added.
The ASCSN Secretary-General who addressed the theme: “Understanding the Principles of Negotiation, Collective Bargaining and Social Partnership in the Workplace,” posited that Collected Bargaining is governed by Convention 98 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on the right to organise and collective bargaining.
He added that the ILO views: “Collective Bargaining as negotiations about working conditions and terms of employment between an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisation on the one hand and one or more representative workers organisation on the other, with a view to reaching agreement”.
He stated that Section 25 of the Trade Unions Act Cap T14 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 provides that “where there exists a trade union for the purpose of collective bargaining, all registered unions in the employment of employer shall constitute an electoral college to elect members who will represent them in negotiations with the employer.
Comrade Lawal advised the managements in various organisations to avoid unfair labour practices which engender industrial conflicts in the workplace.
“In essence, anti-labour practices in all its ramifications need to be avoided for a successful collective bargaining,” he emphasized.
In his address at the occasion, the Chairman-General of the Lagos/outstation Unit of the Association in the Ministry of Defence, Comrade Oso J. Sola, appealed to the management of Ministry of Defence to pay all outstanding salaries and allowances owed employees of the Ministry.
He added that the other benefits being owed the workers by the Ministry of Defence include promotion arrears, 1st 28th Days in lieu of hotel accommodation, death benefit, etc.
“It is also regrettable that employees in the Ministry of Defence have not benefited from the National Housing Fund (NHF) as none of our members has been given loan by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), the custodian of the fund, to build or buy his or her own house.
“Since this is not a retirement scheme, it is difficult to understand when our members will begin to benefit from the housing fund they have been contributing to over the years,” he lamented.
