EXAMINATION OF THE EFFECT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATION PRACTICE ON ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
By the 20th century in Nigeria, the system of production was purely traditional and payment for labour service were in kind, as the issue for monetary payment was not popular in the economy because there were no employment of labour, no payment of wage hence no organized labour to fight for interest of workers except that food and shelter were provided for the dependents by the head of the family units for the satisfaction of the basic needs.
During the 20th century with the ushering in of the commercial activities pursued by the colonial maters who needed the service of labourers for the raw materials they could find. Again, the colonial civil service starts employing indigenous workers, thereby increasing the culture of wages payment in Nigeria.
Workers were recruited into organization like the post and telecommunication (P&T) Electrical cooperation of Nigeria (ECN) and other government agencies then come the laying of the railway line from Lagos to the northern Nigeria, with the attendant employment of Nigeria leading to the payment of wages. The increase in commercial activities and workers agitation led to the establishment of Nigeria civil service union (NCSU) in 1912 to fight for the better condition of service of civil servants of Nigeria.
From this period to 1938 when the trade union ordinance was enacted recognizing the formation of trade unions in Nigeria. Within this periods employee were relating with employers on individuals basis and not as a collective units. The existence of trade unions therefore allows the workers usually through their representatives to participate in determining the policies that act their work environment, work now become formalized in the form of employment
contract between the employees and the employers.
The parties were seen as equal. The employer who has invested his capital aims at maximizing profits. The workers on the other hand contribution their service, which if not remunerated falls into adject poverty. While the employer tries to maximize profit by if possible, exploit the workers, the workers on the
other hand try to free himself from the exploitative hands of the employers. It is this divergent interest among the two opposing groups in an organization that leads to the formation of labour unions.
While employers are represented by management, workers are represented by their unions through their labour leaders. Unions are therefore, formed so that both parties can have working harmony. The relationship that exists between management and labour is what is called industrial relations.
The term, “Industrial Relations” has developed both a broad and a narrow meaning. Originally, industrial relations were broadly defined to include the totality of relationships and interactions between employers an employees. From the perspective, industrial relation covers all the aspects of the employment relationship, including human resource or personnel management employee relations and union management or (labour) relations. Since the
mid twentieth century, however more restricted interpretation that largely equates it with unionized employment relationships. In this view, industrial relations pertains to the study and practice of collective bargaining, trade unionism and labour management relation.
