LABOUR CONFLICT AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN IKEDURU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, IMO STATE

Abstract: This study examined labour conflict and conflict management in Ikeduru local government Area in Imo State. The various ways of labour conflict management includes; lobbying, mediation, collective bargaining, arbitration, negotiation, etc. In an attempt to look into the problems, several literatures, studies and works were reviewed. A sample of 204 staff was selected from the population using simple random sampling method. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources and presented in tables and analysed using percentage and frequencies. Hypotheses were formulated and tested using Chi square test method. It was discovered during the research exercise that labour union is not effective in Ikeduru Local Government Area. The findings also showed that, Management of Ikeduru Local Government Area are inconsiderate of employees needs.  It was observed that Labour-management negotiation brings better incentives than individual negotiation. Following the above findings, the researcher has recommended that Labour – conflict management relationship should be encouraged through meetings aimed at and seeking union opinion on some issues, such as working conditions, pay cut and increase, increase in working time, retrenchment, etc, and apparent lack of confidence between union and management should be discouraged. Both parties should see themselves as partners in progress, working towards a common goal.

An Overview of LABOUR CONFLICT AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN IKEDURU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, IMO STATE

CHAPTER ONE

• Introduction
  • Background of the Study

There is superfluity of views in the literature in the way labour conflict management relations or industrial conflict relations should be handled for a peaceful working environment. The necessity of a harmonious working environment cannot be
overemphasized as it has positive implications for the organization and society at large. Conversely, if the issues touching on labour management relations are not properly resolved they tend to burst its banks with resultant severe consequence on motivation, relationships and production. It is an emotionally charged and sensitive area of public and private organizational administration. A Labour management relation is a complex concern that is aimed at the allocation of rewards to employees for their services, and the conditions under which services are rendered (Otobo 2005: 43). Significant to this paper however is the labour-relations between the government and its public administration. Despite, state privatization program and the corresponding ongoing downsizing policy in accordance with the dictate of the neo-liberal economic dictum of SAP, the Nigerian government still is the leading employer of labour as such has a stake in labour relations issues. The government’s workforce is subsumed in its public administration. In the literature there are three ways of viewing public  administration, namely how to govern a society, the way of management and administration, and the civil service culture (Molen 2004: 3). Labour management relation is not an exclusive shop for individual influence and action, various factors combined to influence, determine and manage the relationship. These actors include the state represented by the government, labour represented by its union leaders, and politicians who enact labour laws. According to Otobo (2005). the actors are: i) a hierarchy of managers and their representatives in supervision; ii) a hierarchy of workers (non-managerial) and any spokesmen, iii) specialized governmental agencies (and specialized private agencies created by the first two actors) concerned with workers, enterprises, and their relationships. Each of these actors has their individual interest they seek to protect in the relationship hence making labour management relations an arena for conflicting interest. As such, if the system lacks an appropriate mechanism for balancing those divergent interests the possibility of conflict is eminent and capable of impeding production, service delivery and can disrupt system stability as a whole. In the extant literature, collective bargaining presents industrial relations actors the useful mechanism for value expression and value adjustment in the work place. It is a mechanism that allows for openness negotiation, consensus building and integration of defined values for which the end goal typifies an amalgam of divergent group interest. The amalgam of interest is as a result of shifting pattern of adjustment by actors driven in the spirit of give and take that characterize the negotiation process. This mechanism for balancing values in labour management relations is essential because it eliminates the desire by one group to dominate and superimpose its value over that of the other groups. In relationships domination and superimposition is often the main cause of igniting conflict. Conflict is a process in which one party perceives that its interest is being opposed or adversely affected by the actions of the other parties (Bartol and Martin 1998). It is the perceived existence and pursuit of mutually incompatible goals between groups a relationship. The method adopted for managing conflict depends on the ideology or frame of reference held by actors (Poole 2001). Such perception has the capacity to either ameliorate or exacerbate conflict situation between actors in industrial relations.

Nigeria, in recent years, has witnessed a plethora of trade disputes rather than peaceful industrial relations. The pattern of industrial relations has been conflictual with disruptive consequences and significant work-hour losses due to work stoppages. In the literature, the cause of industrial relations conflict in Nigeria is due in part to the recalcitrant attitude of the management to create the right arena for open discussion with aggrieved parties as early as notice of the ordinary citizens due to withholding public services as a result of industrial actions. In conflict prone society like ours industrial action by employees often heightened the level of insecurity thus making issue horrifying for the general public. Although conflict is an integral part of social existence, the issue, then, is not to
attempt to avoid or suppress conflict but, rather to prevent unnecessary conflict by managing it in such a manner that it leads toward productive ends (Radin 2007: 365). Unfortunately, the evident character of labour management relations in Nigeria has been conflict that has persisted. labour discontent have been served the management or government. Equally too, the sources of trade dispute has been attributed to government poor policy choices. While some see it as a consequence of government failure to respond to, and respect existing agreement already signed with labour unions or as Oghenekaro (2013) aptly noted the government’s penchant for reneging on agreements. To be specific, this reason reclines behind the present downing of tools by ASUP and ASUU (Gani 2013; Issa 2013). To others; it is the enactment of arbitrary laws aimed at breaking the solidarity and power of trade unions as it is the case of the trade union act of 2004. These factors have combined to generate avoidable industrial conflicts. The consequence of industrial relationship conflict is not only reflective in the man-hour lost but also the psychological effect it has on the ordinary citizens due to withholding public services as a result of industrial actions. In a conflict prone society like ours industrial action by employees often heightened the level of insecurity thus making issue horrifying for the general public. Although conflict is an integral part of social existence, the issue, then, is not to attempt to avoid or suppress conflict but, rather to prevent unnecessary conflict by managing it  in such a manner that it leads toward productive ends (Radin 2007: 365). Unfortunately, the evident character of labour- conflict management relations in Nigeria has been conflict that has persisted.

According to Deutsch (2013), conflict inevitably means that people are working against each other, in such a manner that what one wants is incompatible with that which another wants. It could bring about competition in the pursuit of goals. What the competitor gets comes at the expense of others or the job. It is therefore counter-productive, disruptive, unnatural, and produces a deviation from the free flow of events. A major factor that can throw parties into a state of incompatibility is their perception of the issue at hand or issue of interest. There are other factors that can contribute to the creation of conflict in organizations like task interdependence, scarce resources, goal incompatibility, communication failures, individual differences and poorly designed reward system.

Conflict is a necessary and useful part of organizational life. It is inevitable and an integral part of the process of change. Indeed, it is an aid to cooperation, not an obstacle. There are two sides to conflict, one is destructive and unhealthy and the other has a problem-solving base where those involved are willing to sublimate personality differences, to listen to others’ views and to be open and candid to each other, to be supportive and helpful whereas the former defeats cooperation. Albert [2005] averred that there are productive and destructive conflicts. According to him, “A conflict is said to be positive when it is constructively discussed by the parties and amicable terms for settlement reached”. Constructively managed conflict induces a positive performance while poorly managed conflict heats up the environment to bring about ‘dislocation of the entire group and polarization, reduced productivity on job performance, psychological and physical injury, emotional distress and inability to sleep, interference with problem activities, escalation of differences into antagonistic position and malice and increased hostility. Through conflict management a cooperative atmosphere is created for promoting opportunities and movement directed towards non-violent, reconciliation or basic clashing interest. However, no matter how one looks at conflict, it is important to realize that conflict is one of the best ways in the world to turn the tide and improve unsatisfactory conditions. As a matter of fact, sometimes there may be no real dispute to be managed, but there may be need for greater understanding, cooperation and team work to promote interpersonal harmony and good organizational climate for teaching and learning. Therefore, conflict should not always be seen as something undesirable but rather as a necessary outcome that can bring positive consequences if properly managed. It is against this background that it becomes pertinent to examine labour conflict and conflict management in Ikeduru Local Government Area in Imo state.

• Statement of the Problem

Conflict emerges in an organization when an individual perceives that his goals are threatened or hindered by the activities of another person. Most conflicts in Ikeduru Local Government Area, arises from the inability of the organization to fulfil its collective agreement with its employees resulting in employees embarking on industrial action which may be work-to-rule or total strike. Employees’ industrial action usually results in loss of man-hours, machine-hours, output, skilled personnel, employees’ morale and organizational reputation.

Conflict also exists in the organization over technical opinions and performance trade-offs; that is, disagreements over technical issues, performance specifications, and technical trade-offs. Also conflict over project priorities; Views of project participants differ over sequence of activities and tasks. The issue of goals incompatibility and differences in long-term versus short-term perspectives also encourages labour management conflict. There is also the conflict over administration procedures, conflicts over managerial and administrative issues of how project will be organized and managed, Conflict over schedules Disagreements about the timing, sequencing, and scheduling of project related tasks and information system to prepare and monitor project schedules.

The management of Ikeduru local government area has made little or no effort to develop a cordial relationship between itself and the employees of the organization. It has been discovered that management have developed a nonchalant attitude towards addressing labour management conflict. The inability of management to develop appropriate strategies in tackling labour management conflict has led to poor employee’s performance and low productivity/inefficiency in the local government office and also reduced employee’s commitment to work. It has become pertinent to examine labour management conflict strategies and the different methods employed to address the problem it poises to organizational effectiveness and employee’s performance.

• Objective of The Study

This study is mainly designed to examine the relationship between labour conflict management and employees performance in Ikeduru local government Area. Specifically the study will:

1. Investigate the different forms of conflict that exist in Ikeduru Local Government area.
2. Examine the efforts made by management in tackling labour conflict management  in Ikeduru Local Government area.
3. To investigate if the use of industrial action (strike) by employees has led to the resolution of labour-conflict management .
   • Research Questions
4. Does any significant relationship exist between labour conflictmanagement  and employees’ performance?
5. What efforts have been made by management in tackling labour conflict management  in Ikeduru Local Government Area?
6. Has the use of industrial actions by employees resolved labour conflict management?
   • Research Hypotheses

Hypothesis one

Hi:  There is a significant relationship between labour conflict management and employees performance in Ikeduru Local Government Area.

Ho:  There is no significant relationship between labour conflict management  and employees performance in Ikeduru Local Government Area.

Hypothesis two

Hi: Management makes no effort towards tackling labour conflict management in Ikeduru Local Government Area.

Ho: Management makes effort towards tackling labour conflict management in Ikeduru Local Government Area.

Hypothesis three

Hi: The use of industrial actions by employees has resolved labour conflict management .

Ho: The use of industrial actions by employees has not resolved labour conflict management.

• Significance Of The Study

A study of this nature will help Ikeduru Local Government Area and other related organizations to adopt measures in the context of handling labour conflict management. It will also be beneficial to the academic community and decision makers who deal directly with industrial dispute and to make meaningful proposals and suggestion to improve labour-management relations in Nigeria. The local governments will benefit from a research of this nature because a peaceful and cordial working relationship between management and employees will produce result that would lead to sustainable development and reduce the rate of underperformance. This study will also aid scholars to contribute immensely in the academic circles in carrying out proper research and formulation of relevant theories, without much ado and will help me to obtain a B.Sc degree.

• Scope of the Study

This study focuses on labour conflict management, using Ikeduru Local Government Area in Imo State as my area of study.

• Limitations of Study

In the course of conducting this study, many problems were encountered. Some were personal; finance was also a major hindrance to the course of this research. Attempts were made to solicit information from specific department within the organization but there was no permission to do so. If there had been necessary assistance from some of the departments much information could have been collected to enhance the work. Lack of financial resources restricted desires to seek information from several areas. All this constraints was dealt with to a large extent and this brought about a successful completion on the research work.

• Definition of Terms

• Conflict: a clash or disagreement, often violent between two opposing groups or individuals.
• Labour: workers in general; the working class, the workforce; sometimes specifically the labour movement or organized labour.
• Management: the executives of an organization, especially senior executives.
• Organization: A group of people or other legal entities with an explicit purpose and written rules.
• Employees: an individual who provides labour to a company or another person.
• Effectiveness: The capacity or potential for achieving results.
• Strategy: a plan of action intended to accomplish a specific goal.
• Local government: Any form of government whose remit covers an area less than that of the nation, and in some cases less than that of a state.