Young Workers learn about Labour Law and Labour Institutions

The fifth session of the Young Workers Training introduced young members of trade unions to Nigeria labour law, international instruments and labour institutions established to resolve conflicts at work in Nigeria. This session forms part of a nine-month programme of FES Nigeria, in collaboration with IndustriAll Africa, PSI and civil society organisations in Lagos State, aimed at increasing the active youth participation in Nigerian trade unions. Despite the fundamental importance of young people to trade unions, they often have little understanding of how trade unions work. On this module titled ‘Nigeria labour law, international instruments and labour institutions’, the participants engaged in a two-day discussion on the history of Nigeria labour laws, the character of the law, various international instruments which Nigeria has ratified and the labour institutions established by law to resolve conflicts between employer and employees in the workplace.

The training was facilitated by Comrade Femi Aborisade, a trade unionists and practising labour lawyer. Comrade Femi provided the participants with introductory knowledge of domestic and international instruments governing the relationship between employers and the workers. The module explored the relevance of Marxist Jurisprudence to an understanding of the class character of the law in society.

The session also focused on the legal framework on freedom of association in Nigeria, which helped to identify and understand the domestic and international instruments that protect the right to freedom of association. Based on this information, the participants in groups discussed the strengths and shortcomings of the various instruments and made recommendation on how to strengthen the instruments. The participants called on labour leaders to lead campaigns and advocacy visit to the National Assembly to review certain aspects of the laws that prevent certain categories of workers from joining the union. Participants discussed the shortcomings of the current statutory dispute resolution procedure, which is very cumbersome and restrictive, as well as the fact that the pronouncement of the court is not final because it is subject to the influence of the Minister of Labour. They also observed that only lawyers can file trade disputes in the labour courts and called on trade unionists to challenge these restrictions and bottlenecks.

It is expected that the participants will carry the new knowledge acquired into their respective trade unions. Nigeria has a lot of its labour laws which are old and in need of review, it is hoped that the young workers will join through their union leadership a campaign for the review of existing old and archaic labour laws which sems to undermine the interests of workers.