A WORKER’S PERSPECTIVE ON SECTION 43 OF THE TRADE DISPUTES ACT: THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

Abstract

More than ever before, the need to minimize the frequency of industrial actions in Nigeria because of its adverse effects on the nation’s economy and manpower has become overly imperative.  The government has adopted the ‘no work no pay’ provision in Section 43 of the Trade Disputes Act1 as a means to discourage labour unions’ incessant resort to industrial actions. This has led to quite a number of debates on the implications of this provision and the exercise of workers right to embark on industrial actions. Indeed, international law and national legislations have provided workers with the right to freely associate and form trade unions as well as recognised workers right to strike. However, some pieces of legislation such as the Trade Disputes Act have provisions which severely limit this right. The aim of this work is to demonstrate that the provisions of section 43 by implication are one of such restricting provisions. This paper indicates that loss of pay, which in this case is represented by the ‘no work, no pay’ rule as provided in section 43, gags the exercise of the right to strike and recommends inter alia the amendment of section 43 of the Trade Disputes Act and the conduct of impact assessment checks by organised labour before embarking on industrial actions, as ways forward.