Labour body charges govt on unionism

The Shop and Distributive Trade Senior Staff Association (SHOPDIS), has called for the swift intervention of the Federal Government to prevail on the management of a foreign firm, Game Discount World Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of MASS Discounters whose head office is in South Africa to comply with the court judgment that mandated workers to be unionised in its Nigeria offices.
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Despite having two separate judgments from Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP) and National Industrial Court (NIC), Abuja, SHOPDIS have been vehemently resisted from joining the union, which they considered an infringement of their human rights.

General Secretary of SHOPDIS, Ola Oyegoke, who lamented the union’s ordeal since 2010 in its move to give the workers a platform to collective bargaining as a basis for regulating their condition of service, said the management had shown that it has no respect for Nigeria law through its refusal to abide by the court judgements.

‎Oyegoke said SHOPDIS, had in 2014, got an award over a trade dispute declared against Game management on the non recognition of the union as a representative of the Senior Staff of the company who have signed membership authorisation forms which had been forwarded to the management since April 2010.

“Though the management then said its refusal was based on the fact that the said workers were projection of management, and subsequently appealed against the judgment, the NIC in its ruling by Justice Isele in November last year, upheld the IAP award.

He explained that the IAP award signed by Mrs. Abubarkar on behalf of the Minister of Labour and Productivity, in May, 2014, which states: “The Tribunal hereby finally concludes that the second Party (management) is resisting since April 2010 for unionisation of its Senior Staff that are not of a Projection of Management and have refused collective bargaining.”
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The Tribunal on the award had expressed further, that second party should forthwith allow the 1st party to unionise its senior staff that have signed membership authorisation forms submitted to it since April 2010

“That the 2nd party should start and enter into collective bargaining ‎as to the condition of service of the members of the 1st party in its organisation.”

However upon the NIC judgment in November last year, the union wrote the management of its plan to inaugurate the branch, but Game in a letter from its parent body and signed by Blake Walker, Legal Specialist: Africa Mass Discounters replied the union that it could not permit the formal inauguration.

The letter read, “As a company, we are fully committed to comply with any judgment of ‎court, however, we wish to draw your attention to Section 3(3) of the Trade Union Acts, Chapter 437 which provides that “no staff recognised as a projection of management structure of any organisation shall be a member of or hold office in a trade union…if such membership or of the holding of such office in the trade union will lead to a conflict of his loyalties to either the union or to the management.

“Our management team members occupy positions of seniority within our organisation and hold positions envisaged as a projection of management and as contemplated by the Act.”

Besides, the ‎union insists that it was a ploy by the management to continue to enslave its members and has charged the Minister of Labour, Senator Chris Ngige to wade into the matter, as it believes in peaceful resolution rather than confrontation.

However, SHOPDIS warned that if all avenues of dialogue failed, the union may be forced to resort to other industrial relations tools open to it under the law.