COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Collective bargaining is very important in industrial relations, a proper understanding of the relationship between
the employers and workers is necessary to foster growth and productivity. The need for harmony and a peaceful
working relationship is important for economic growth, there is also a need to bridge the gap between the employers
and the workers especially as it relates to distribution of resources, the issue has always been the outcome of
bargaining as workers are most times at a cross road when it comes to enforceability of a collective agreement and it
is based on this premise that this paper is developed. This research looked at the issues in collective bargaining in
Nigeria, the history of collective bargaining, actors in collective bargaining, procedure in dispute resolution, stages
of collective bargaining in Nigeria, enforceability of collective agreement and the challenges of collective bargaining.
The paper also compared the practice of Collective Bargaining in other jurisdictions and that of Nigeria and part of
the findings was that while collective agreements are not enforceable in Nigeria, in other jurisdictions collective
agreement is enforceable so long as the parties intended for it to be binding. The paper also shows the lessons that
Nigeria can learn from the other jurisdictions. It is based on these facts that the paper recommends that collective
bargaining should be enshrined in the constitution as a right.It also recommends the enforceability of collective
agreement to ensure industrial peace and harmony