Legal and institutional challenges in collective bargaining agreements in Nigeria

Collective bargaining mechanisms are commonly used in both the public and private sectors to determine wages and resolve issues related to the terms and conditions of employment. The aim is generally to improve the working conditions of the employees. In Nigeria, the government continues to face difficulties honouring agreements with unionised public employees even after exhaustive negotiation sessions. The noncompliance of employers with collective bargaining agreements has greatly contributed to the high occurrence of industrial actions in both the public and private sectors. Hence, the objectives of the study are to examine the requirements for the validity of collective bargaining agreements in Nigeria, investigate the legal challenges in its enforcement, analyse the institutional challenges that affect its practices and propose necessary recommendations to the law for the improvements. In achieving these objectives, data was primarily obtained from library-based sources supported by semi-structured interviews. In addition, the study examines global practices for a more comprehensive analysis and understanding of the legal and institutional challenges that impact collective bargaining in Nigeria. The findings revealed that the current legislation regulating collective bargaining agreements is inadequate due to deficiencies in the provisions of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution and other Nigerian labour legislations such as the Trade Dispute Act and the Trade Union Act. Moreover, the Nigerian Supreme Court decision in BPE vs. Dangote Cement Plc has resulted in uncertainty on the enforceability of collective bargaining agreements. Also, the legal deficiencies are exacerbated by the inefficiency of institutional bodies dealing with collective bargaining agreements such as the Federal Ministry of Labour and the Courts. Therefore, the study recommends that Nigeria's institutional and legal framework relating to collective bargaining agreements in the Trade Dispute Act and Trade Union Act be comprehensively reviewed for improvement.