AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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eral of these restrictions. The Government has not amended the laws, but it has
conducted discussions with senior staff associations concerning formal recognition
and their accession to the NLAC.
Workers, except members of the armed forces and employees designated as essential
by the Government, may join trade unions. Essential workers included members
of the armed forces and government employees in the police, customs, immigration,
prisons, federal mint, central bank, and telecommunications sectors. Employees
working in a designated export processing zone (EPZ) may not join a union until
10 years after the start-up of the enterprise (see Section 6.b.).
According to figures provided by the NLC, total union membership was approximately
4 million. Less than 10 percent of the total work force was organized. With
the exception of a small number of workers engaged in commercial food processing,
the agricultural sector, which employed the bulk of the work force, was not organized.
The informal sector, and small and medium enterprises, largely remained unorganized.
The Government has mandated a single trade union structure with service and
industrial unions grouped under the NLC. The trade union movement was composed
of two groups consisting of junior and senior staff workers. The single trade union
structure and segregation of junior from senior staff were intended to dilute the bargaining
strength of workers. Junior staff workers, primarily blue-collar workers,
were organized into the 29 industrial unions that were affiliated with the NLC; 21
associations make up the Trade Union Congress (TUC). The TUC has a claimed
membership of approximately 400,000 to 600,000. The TUC, which was composed
primarily of white-collar workers, has not been sanctioned officially by the Government,
and was prohibited by statute from affiliating with the NLC. The TUC lacked
a seat on the NLAC.
The Maritime Workers Union continued to challenge the Government’s decertification
during the year.
The ILO cited a number of restrictions on freedom of association, including requiring
all registered labor unions to affiliate with a single central labor federation (the
NLC); establishing a minimum of 50 workers to form a trade union; providing for
the possibility of compulsory arbitration; giving the registrar broad powers to supervise
trade union accounts; and giving the Government discretionary power to revoke
the certification of a trade union due to overriding public interests. However, in August
the Government ratified several ILO conventions.
Complaints of antiunion discrimination could be brought to the Ministry of Labor
for mediation, conciliation, and resolution.
The NLC and labor unions were free to affiliate with international bodies; however,
prior approval from the Minister was required. The NLC had affiliated with
the Organization of African Trade Unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.—The labor laws provide for
both the right to organize and the right to bargain collectively between management
and trade unions. Collective bargaining occurred throughout the public sector and
the organized private sector. The Labor Minister could refer unresolved disputes to
the Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP) and the Nigerian Industrial Court (NIC).
Union officials questioned the effectiveness and independence of the NIC in view of
its refusal in previous years to resolve various disputes stemming from the Government’s
failure to fulfill contract provisions for public sector employees. The NIC was
reconstituted in 2001 with several new members, including a formerly imprisoned
trade unionist, Milton Dabibi. Union leaders criticized the arbitration system’s dependence
on the Labor Minister’s referrals. The Labor Minister made several referrals
to the IAP during the year. The IAP and NIC were active following the Government’s
appointment of new members; however, both suffered from a lack of resources.
A worker under a collective bargaining agreement could not participate in a strike
unless his union complied with the requirements of the law, which included provisions
for mandatory mediation and for referral of the dispute to the Government.
The law allows the Government discretion to refer the matter to a labor conciliator,
arbitration panel, board of inquiry, or the National Industrial Court. The law forbids
any employer from granting a general wage increase to its workers without prior
government approval. However, in practice the law does not appear to be enforced;
strikes, including in the public sector, were widespread and private sector wage increases
generally were not submitted to the Government for prior approval.
Workers had the right to strike; however, certain essential workers were required
to provide advance notice of a strike. On January 17, NLC President Adams
Oshiomhole was arrested during a general strike to protest the Government’s 15.3
percent fuel price hike. Oshiomhole and several supporters were charged with ‘‘unlawful
assembly and inciting the general public against the Government.’’ The Gov-
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