Management of Collective Agreement and Joint Consultation in Nigerian Labour Relations
Marythecla Igono
Department of Business Education
School of Vocational Education
Umar Suleiman College of Education Gashua
Email: igonomarythecla@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT: In every organization, there are targets to be met. To achieve this target, the management has to bring in certain levels of control on organizational resources, fundamentally the human resources (Chiekezie et al., 2009: 132). This control which is intended to impact positively on organizational behavior can at times be viewed from a negative light and can be a source of tension between workers and their managers especially when it affects workers’ welfare. In fact, it has been shown by Bohlander (1984: 95) that“employees unionize because of economic needs, because of general dissatisfaction with managerial policies and practices, and/or as a way to fulfill social and status needs”. Whatever the source of the tension between workers and management, this tension is often ameliorated by a certain kind of negotiated social partnership known as Labor Relations. These relations give rise to a comprehensive system of cooperation between employees, managers and government. The concepts of collective agreement, grievances and joint consultation are hence, core concepts in understanding labor relations. This position paper seeks to define and explore these concepts as they connect to workers/management interactions with a view to elucidating manners of managing collective agreement and joint consultation in Labor relations.
