Posted by Babatunde Oke on
Four months after President Olusegun Obasanjo signed the Trade Unions Amendment Bill 2005 into law, the Ministry of Employment, Labour and Productivity has released guidelines for the registration of trade unions, especially, federation of trade unions in the country.
Four months after President Olusegun Obasanjo signed the Trade Unions Amendment Bill 2005 into law, the Ministry of Employment, Labour and Productivity has released guidelines for the registration of trade unions, especially, federation of trade unions in the country.
The new Act, which President Olusegun Obasanjo signed into law on March 30, to reform trade unionism, is meant to bring it in conformity with the International Labour Organisation's standards and conventions.
According to the guidelines released to labour leaders and employers' unions on July 19, a copy of which was made available to our correspondent in Lagos on Tuesday, the guidelines are to aid the implementation of the existing labour law.
The guidelines state, 'The requirements for the registration of trade unions or federation of trade unions introduced into the principal Act by this Act, shall not apply to any of the unions, which immediately before the coming into force of this Act, had been duly registered under this Act (as amended).
'Such trade unions or federation of trade unions shall, subject to the requirements introduced by this Act, continue to exist in accordance with the rights attached to their registration as such, unless and until they are dissolved, amalgamated, judicially forfeited or cancellation of their registration certificate."
The guidelines, however, dimmed the hope of some labour leaders who intended to woo workers in different industrial and occupational lines from their own.
The guidelines stated thus,
• The existing formation of trade unions along industrial/occupational lines should be maintained;
• The unions and federations of trade unions so registered should be national in outlook;
• The existing three tiers structure of trade unions namely, trade unions of workers, senior staff association and employers association, be maintained to forestall proliferation of trade unions and make labour administration in Nigeria manageable; and
• Check-off dues so collected should be remitted to the registered trade union within seven working days.
With these four parts of the guidelines, it means the defection of some members of the Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria to the National Union of Shop and Distributive Employees is void.
Trade unions would have to conduct referendum to pass resolution proposing the formation of federation of trade unions through a secret ballot.
In the case of federation of trade unions, only executive councils of unions would participate in the balloting for the resolution to form the federation.
The copies of the resolution, the guidelines stated, must be made available to the registrar of trade unions as well as individual members of the unions that wish to come together.
'A sworn declaration that the resolutions had been complied with to the best of their knowledge be tendered," the guidelines added.
But while the Trade Union Congress leaders are happy with the idea of different registration for both the senior and the junior staff associations, leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress want an eradication of the dichotomy between senior and junior workers.
There was a strong indication also that leaders of the TUC no longer favour the idea of labour unity.
A senior officer of TUC told our correspondent that the senior staff labour centre had in the past tried to convince the NLC to forge labour unity.
'There was a time, when we were trying to let them see the importance of labour unity but they refused, why are they so keen about labour unity now," he said.
President Olusegun Obasanjo initiated the move to amend the Trade Unions Act in 2000 by setting up a committee comprising the NLC and employers' associations, supported by two experts of the ILO.
The president later abandoned the committee and initiated another bill at the National Assembly.
Labour, especially the NLC and its affiliates, opposed the bill, claiming that the intention of the Federal Government for the amendment of the Trade Unions Act, which had given only the NLC the sole right of organising junior workers in the country, was unclear.
The timing of the bill was also unfavourable, as it came when the NLC and other labour groups were campaigning against higher prices for petroleum products, which led to four national strikes.
After about five attempts, the bill was debated and passed by both chambers of the National Assembly, in February with little adjustments.
In the Act, the National Assembly left out the issue of banning strike in some strategic sectors of the nation's economy; conducting referendum and getting two-third majority of workers before going on strike; transforming from labour centres to federation of trade unions; and registration of trade unions and federation of trade unions by the Registrar of Trade Unions.
The Act also gave the Registrar power to register or de-register any trade union.
The Act provides that individual workers should indicate in writing whether their salaries should be deducted for check off dues or not.
The PUNCH, Wednesday, July 27, 2005