INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES (IJHSS)
Globalization and Technological Challenges to Effective Trade Unionism and Workers’ Welfare in Nigeria
E-ISSN: 3435-6457
P-ISSN: 8654-3552
DOI: https://iigdpublishers.com/article/1668
Thephenomena of globalization and technology are changing the structure of employee’s contractual relations with their employers in many different ways. They are also changing the role of the state and the tripartite relations between government, employers and unions. Consequently, trade unions face the challenges of finding new ways to influence and shape the new international environment that affect the labour market and workers’ bargaining with employers who are less interested in standardized collective agreements. The study argued that since the advent of globalization which ushered in deregulation and liberalization policies in line with the Structural Adjustment Programme Agenda of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as the prerequisite for Nigeria to access their loan facilities and financial aids, it has succeeded in setting back not only the economies and rate of development of the country, but also the trade unionism’s ambition of pluralism and progress on labor rights and workers’ welfare. The globalization theory served as its theoretical framework. Data were collected from text books, journals, magazines, newspapers, online materials. Data were analyzed using thematic methods of objective measurement and deductive reasoning from the secondary data sources in drawing conclusion. The study found that deregulation and liberalization policies of Nigeria have impacted negatively on workers’ welfare, trade unions' rights and Nigeria's developmental efforts over the years. The paper concluded that trade unions, government and employers of labour should collectively focus on the strengthening of labour markets institutions in the country against the adverse effects of globalization and technological challenges in order to protect and promote workers' socio-economic conditions. The paper recommended that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) should position itself properly to be able to effectively and adequately address workers' welfare problems arising from the challenges of globalization and technological innovations.
Onyebuchi Ogbonnaya Ejim PhD, Scholarstica Chika Ejim & Jocelyn Onwunyiriuba
Akinrinade, S. (2000). The IMF, World Bank conspiracy. Newswatch, 6(3), 14.
Akpuru-Aja, A. (1998). Fundamentals of modern political economy and international economic relations. Changing with the times. Data-Globe Nigeria.
Amadi, V.A. (2007). Trade unionism and workers' welfare in Nigeria: A study of the performance of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in the democratic dispensation, 1999-2007. A Ph.D seminar presented to the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Amadi,V.A.(2014). Nigeria Labour Congress and workers’ welfare in Imo State, Nigeria,1999- 2007.APh.D.Thesis of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Antonio, R.J. (2007a). “The cultural construction of neoliberal globalization: Honey…/Think/Shrunk the Kids”. In G. Ritzer (ed.) .(2008). The Blackwell to Globalization.
Blackwell. Beck, U. (2000). What is globalization? Polity Press. De Grazia, V. (2005). Irresistible empire: America’s advance through Twentieth Century Europe. Harvard University Press, Belknap Press.
Esedafe, A. (1998 July–December). Technology and threat of competition from foreign banks. The Nigerian Banker,7(4), 25–26.
Giddens, A. (1990).The consequences of modernity. Stanford University Press. Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identify. Stanford University Press.
Giddens, A. (2000). Runaway world: How globalization is reshaping our lives. Routledge.
Haralambos, M; Holborn, M; Chapman, S. & Moore, S. (2013). Sociology: Themes and perspectives (8thed). Harper Collins.
ICFTU. (1996). International Confederation for Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) Report 1996.
Ihejirika, T. (2002). Between globalization and globalism:Dangers of pure humanism:Barloz Publishers Ltd.
ILO. (1996). The impact of globalization on the world of work. ILO/JIL Network of National Institute for Labour Studies in Asia and Pacific, Regional Office for Asia and Pacific. Bangkok Thailand.
ILO. (2006). The ILO code of practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work .Retrieved from: http://www.ILO.AIDS. Accesed on 7May, 2025.
