Download STRIKES, REGULATORY AUTHORITIES AND BUREAUCRACY: A

“STRIKES, REGULATORY AUTHORITIES AND BUREAUCRACY: A
Framework for Performance Evaluation and Improvement”
BACKGROUND
“The best known form of industrial action is the strike. This can be described as a
deliberate and concerted withdrawal of labour. In any developed nation, the law about
strikes is a matter of great political concern and is therefore central to Labour Law.
Hence the various labour legislations are aimed principally at ensuring as far as is
humanly possible, industrial peace and minimizing industrial conflict through strikes”
( Ogunniyi 2004)
The Nigerian industrial relations system is designed with the above premise in mind. In
reality however, the picture is different. In fact, the incidence of strikes and other types
of work stoppages have become very rampant in the country. Although we have no
evidence to support this assertion, there is no doubt that the incidence in Nigeria is one
of the highest in the world.
The reasons for this are legion ranging from non-payment of earned monthly salaries to
breach of collective agreements. In addition, “structural changes in employment in
particular those resulting from privatization, new technologies, outsourcing and the
extension of production chain” have significantly contributed to strikes (ILO 2008).
Sometimes they are executed for political ends that have nothing to do with the terms
and conditions of employment of the workers but all the same strikes disrupt national life
and hurt economic activities.
The negative impact on our GDP and income per capita is obvious. The wealth of
nations, the well-being of its citizens, the development and progress of its economic and
social systems are all traceable to the collective productivity of its citizenry. Therefore
each time any sector of the economy is on strike, the entire nation pays dearly for it.
Despite the critical impact of strikes on productivity, little attention is paid to what can be
done to nip strikes in the bud or reduce the incidence to the barest minimum.
We are aware that enough legislation exist to ensure that conflicts and trade disputes
do not degenerate to strikes; but this is only at the level of legislation. We are also
aware that public policy in the area of industrial relations is in line with the best
international standards as recommended by the International Labour Organisation
(ILO). We are not sure however that the enabling environment required to get things
done properly is available in this country.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its 2008 report made the same point in
the following words “An enabling environment for freedom of association and collective
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bargaining calls for proper legislation and effective institutions including those for
dispute resolution. Political will is essential both for enacting the right legislation and for
proper implementation of the law. Governments must also have the right administrative
and technical capacity to uphold these principles”
It is against this background that this policy implementation study is being undertaken
as our own contribution to the effective management of strikes in our country
AIMS & OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The world of the 21st century has presented us with a new set of realities especially with
the phenomenon of globalization. According to Peter Drucker (1999) “All institutions
have to make global competitiveness a strategic goal. No institution, whether a
business, a university or a hospital can hope to survive let alone succeed, unless it
measures up to the standards set by the leaders in its field, any place in the
world”(Drucker).
Nnonyelu (2011) links the above to the practice of industrial relations in Nigeria and
argues that “in Nigeria, these pressures however combine with local domestic factors
like forms of government, stage of industrialization, the role of the state, development of
labour and consciousness of the working class, level of unemployment and poverty in
the land to characterize the nature of industrial relations. The management of strikes is
one aspect of the entire discipline of industrial relations.
If we keep the above reality in mind, it means that as a nation, we have a lot more
strategic issues to deal with than to be putting off the fire of strikes all the time. That
said, we must deal with basic issues of work-continuity first if our ambition to become
one of the 20 largest economies of this century is to be realized.
In respect of the above we are persuaded to argue that if regulatory authorities
(government officials) have a way of analyzing the causes of any strike, how it is
managed and resolved, its financial, economic and social costs, its overall impact on the
society and thereafter make the outcome/result visible so that lessons are learnt
(mistakes are not repeated, risks are avoided, costs are saved and productivity gains
are consolidated) our society will be better for it. In the absence of such a template or
scorecard, activities tend to predominate with little result to show for it.
What we see in practice today is that once a strike is resolved (no matter how long it
takes), the parties sign a “No winner-no loser” agreement and it is business as usual. If
we do not know what the cost is, how can we work to avoid it in future? If lessons are
not leaned, how can we be sure that those who are paid to manage strikes are not
continuously being rewarded for failure and value-destruction?
The Trade Dispute Act defines Strikes as “ the cessation of work by a body of persons
employed, acting in combination or a concerted refusal or a refusal under a common
understanding of any number of persons employed, to continue to work for an employer
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in consequence of a trade dispute, done as a means of compelling their employer or
any person or body of persons employed or to aid other workers in compelling their
employer to accept or not to accept terms of employment and physical conditions of
work”.
The Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity is the agency of government
responsible for the formulation and implementation of all labour laws including the
apprehension and management of trade disputes. The Trade Disputes Act 1976,
defines a trade dispute as “any dispute between employers and workers or between
workers and workers which is connected with the employment or non-employment or
the terms of employment and the physical conditions of work of any person”
The Act also outlines the procedures to be followed in the event of a trade dispute.
According to the Act, parties to a dispute should first attempt to settle the dispute using
their internal mechanism for dispute resolution, If the internal mechanism fails, they
should resort to mediation, conciliation and arbitration in that order. Through this
method of progression, the Act tries to discourage the resort to strike by aggrieved
parties. Increasingly strikes in Nigeria have become a matter of first resort instead.
Strike is a tool used by trade unions for attaining varied objectives – organization or
recognition, correcting alleged unfair treatment, redress of grievances, and even
political objectives. However it is widely accepted that strikes are a measure of last
resort (ILO 2008). In fact, ILO Convention 87 which guarantees Freedom of Association
and the Right to Organise recognises the workers freedom to withdraw his/her services
in furtherance of a trade dispute as a fundamental human right.
The approach to strike management in the country is a product of public policy. The
purpose of this study is to influence this approach by developing a framework that will
enable public administrators to appreciate the cost of strikes, objectively measure
performance of the civil service in the area of strike management and recommend ways
to improve overall performance. Therefore given that disputes are inevitable at the
workplace and that an employee can legitimately withdraw his services, given also that
strikes are very expensive and should be avoided, it has become necessary to study
how regulatory authorities can effectively deliver on strike management even in the face
of bureaucratic constraints.
This study would have succeeded if at the end of the day, we deliver the following:
1. A template of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for public officials who are
responsible for the management of strikes
2. An After Action Review (AAR) template for analyzing and documenting the
impact of any strike (financial, economic, social, legal, etc)
3. A framework for performance measurement and evaluation in this critical sector
of the economy so that quarterly, bi-annually or annually the score-card of the
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concerned government department can be accessed and assessed by key stakeholders.
4. A framework for performance improvement. We live in a dynamic world and the
world of work is no exception. Therefore using the same tools over and over the
years and expecting to effectively solve today’s challenges is not realistic.
The achievement of these objectives will portend great benefits for our country because
we believe that “the analysis of public policies and programs improve governmental
performance and output if only the result of analysis will be adhered to”(Okereke 1998)
Finally, the study will confine itself to those sectors of the economy where organized
labour is present and responsible for calling out its members on strike.
METHODOLOGY
Methodology exists to guide the conduct of research and must be reflected in our
conduct of this research. Research methodology in public administration has
traditionally benefitted from social science research methods. In fact, public
administration research methodology has not matured to a point where it is capable of
sustaining the knowledge creation needs of the field (Perry & Krammer 1992).
In our choice of methodology, a few factors will be considered.
1. The test of methodology is whether it produces useful knowledge over time
2. Public administration research is primarily applied rather than basic. It is skewed
in favour of problem-solving.
3. Our primary concern is the conscious effort to advance knowledge in the area of
policy implementation
4. The eclectic nature of public administration makes it difficult to identify
methodologies that define or are associated exclusively with the field
5. The bridge between research and practice is an important element of the choice
to be made.
6. We are interested in problem-solving not theory development. This will limit the
development and testing of empirical theory.
In addition to the above, we also agree “that there is no one correct method even for a
particular type of research. However, there are correct ways of using methods so that
the results they produce can be relied upon at least within the terms of their limitations”
(Eneanya 2012).
For the purpose of this study, extensive public policy analysis will be conducted. This
will entail “a description of the content of public policy, an assessment of the impact of
environmental forces on the content of public policy, an analysis of the effect of various
institutional arrangements and political processes on public policy; an inquiry into the
consequences of various public policies for the political system and an evaluation of the
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impact of public policies on society both in terms of expected and unexpected
consequences (Dye 1975).
The study will make use of a lot of qualitative materials and some degree of qualitative
(eg Cost-Benefit Analysis) input to the extent that they help us to address the issues at
hand (Okereke 1998)
In addition to the above, comparative labor studies will be undertaken while key stakeholders especially the Federal Ministry of Labor and Productivity, Nigerian Employers
Consultative Association (NECA), Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) and Trade Union
Congress (TUC) and ILO will be extensively engaged during this period of study.
REFERENCES
Drucker P F 1999. Management Challenges of the 21st Century Harper 1999
Dye T R 1975. Understanding Public Policy Eaglewood Cliffs N J Prentice-HALL 2ND ed.
1979.
Eneanya A N 2012. Research Methods in Political Science and Public Administration
University of Lagos Press
ILO Geneva” Freedom of Association in Practice: Lessons Learned” Geneva 2008
Nnonyelu A A 2011 “The Global Economy and Industrial Relations in Nigeria” in
Perspectives on Nigerian Labour Market and the Global Economy MINILS Ilorin 2011
Ogunniyi O 2004. Nigerian Labour and Employment Laws in Perspective 2 nd Edition
Folio Publishers Ltd
Okereke O O 1998. Public Policy Analysis & Decision-Making WillyRose & Applesed
Publishing Company
Perry J L & Krammer K L 1992. “Research Methodology in Public Administration: Issues
and Patterns” in Public Administration-The State of the Discipline edited by NB Lynn &
A Wildavsky, Chattam House Publishers New Jersey
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