The Causes and Resolution of Inter-Trade Union Conflicts in Nigeria: The Case of Nigeria Civil Service Union Versus Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria in Taraba State

Abstract

The problem which this study set-out to examine is whether the making, implementation and interpretation of the policy which gives workers the freedom of association as trade unions to engage in the practice of trade unionism in Nigeria caused or did not cause inter trade union conflicts at the national and State levels; and how did the policy cause this conflict This study found that there are two major causes of inter trade union conflicts both at National and State levels that is Psychological and Manifest causes..The Psychological are the general theories of conflict and the Manifest is the real world issues at stake in the dispute. The Manifest is indicated at the National level by way of discrimination on some category of workers regarded as senior staff who as from 1978 to 2004 were not permitted to have their recognised federation of Trade unions at par with Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yet it was also  illegal for senior staff unions to affiliate with NLC. Another dimension of the conflict was that there were also policy reforms during the military era of the 1990s without consultation with senior staff unions. This was followed with intense propaganda by NLC affiliates that senior staff associations are not trade unions which made some eligible workers not to join senior staff associations at the State level. Also there were acts of membership poaching which was carried out by Nigeria Civil Service Union (NCSU) to increase her membership and check- off dues. And indeed the combination of National and State level marginalization activities impacted negatively on the performance of Association of Senior Civil Servants (ASCSN). Consequently the ASCSN opposed these marginalization tendencies through policy reforms advocacy and sought court interpretation of the Trade Union Act /Policies. This inter trade union conflict between NCSU and ASCSN was both on the issues of the formation of central labour organization and jurisdictional scope of affiliates was eventually resolved through the 2005 policy reform followed by the registration of Trade Union Congress (TUC) as a federation of trade union for senior staff associations  as well as the Court interpretation that senior staff cannot be members of Nigeria Civil Service Union. These also led to the growth of Association of Senior Civil Servants both by membership and check-off dues. The study recommends that in any process of policy reforms, government should always consult all categories of stakeholders in the industrial relations system so that the policy output would not be one sided and escalate conflict between trade unions.

Keywords: Trade unionism, inter-trade union conflict and conflict resolution