THE REPRESSIVE FACE OF LAW TO STRIKE IN NIGERIA: HOPE FOR INDUSTRIAL PEACE?

Abstract

Though the strike is accepted as an indispensable component of a democracy and a stimulus to social dialogue in industrial relations, strikes have remained controversial in many jurisdictions and are repressed by law in some legal systems. This paper examines the legal response to strikes in Nigeria and the implications for workers. It reviews the law over time and finds that it has remained repressive, based on the lopsided desire to protect general services and the business interests of the employer over and above the interests of the worker. In spite of these repressive laws, workers have continued to use strikes in expressing their grievances. The paper argues for legitimization of strikes in industrial relations in Nigeria. This is necessary if we are to encourage social dialogue and workers' participation in the democratic management of the enterprise and the economy as a whole. The paper posits that sustained social dialogue and workers' participation in the democratic management of the enterprise ...