CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
All over the world, employee’s right has always been protected through effective labour relations and the activities of the trade unions which have in turns proven to the effective in shaping employee work attitude (Trevor, 2006). However, labour relations involve the practice of managing unionized employment situations (Heery, 2011). Proper management of such relations should contribute positively to the morale of the employee.
Trade union is an organization of workers who have come together to achieve common goals such as protecting the integrity of its trade, improving safety standards, achieving higher pay and benefits such as health care and retirement, increasing the number of employees an employer assigns to complete the work, and better working conditions. This can be seen from the outcomes of strikes by trade unions in Nigeria that always leads to salary and wages increment for the workers. These wages has in turn been the major factor that has continue to motivate the workers to better performance.
The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members (rank and file members) and negotiates labour contracts (collective bargaining) with employers (Trevor, 2006). The most common purpose of these associations or unions is “maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment”. This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies. Trade unions traditionally have a constitution which details the governance of their bargaining unit and also have governance at various levels of government depending on the industry that binds them legally to their negotiations and functioning (Gall, 2003). Labour relations is the norm in situation where trade union does not exists. It is important that professional rendering the same services should come together and make collective demand from the employee when the need arises. Labour relations should invariably lead to adequate and timely wages if properly managed.
A trade unions leadership bargains with the employer on behalf of its members on terms and conditions of employment. This may include negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies. The agreements negotiated by the union leaders are binding on the entire membership and the employer and, in some cases, on other non-member workers (Thomas and Daryl, 2012).
An ingenious alternative approach compares productivity according to the governance of the firm (Hsu, M.K 2003). The researcher is also of the opinion that the importance of good wages on workers attitude should be a good one.
Salary and wages are the money paid to an employee by the employer with respect to the services rendered by the employee for a period of time that was agreed upon by both parties. Wage, when it is paid daily and salary, when it is paid weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
Esien (2002) went further in drawing distinction between wage and salary. He opined that “in the past, important distinctions existed between wages and salary, but today, the words are used interchangeably, reflecting the convergence of method of paying skilled and unskilled employees that has happened over 40 years. A salary was defined as a fixed annual amount, paid monthly. Wages in contrast were variable weekly payments (usually made in cash) that fluctuated in value through overtime, bonuses, and piecework rates. Salaries were determined individually; wages through management/union collective bargaining” (LRD, 2009). Today, however, many salaried workers are unionized and paid according to union negotiated salary scales, with annual increment; while large numbers of wage earners now receive relatively stable time based earnings. Based on all these, the research is examining the effect of labour relations, trade unionism and wages on employee work attitude.
