DOCSLIB.ORG

Punching Above Their Weight: Nigerian Trade Unions in the Political Economy of Oil

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Punching Above Their Weight: Nigerian Trade Unions in the Political Economy of Oil Philosophiae Doctor (PhD), Thesis 2017:64 (PhD), Doctor Philosophiae ISBN: 978-82-575-1461-7 Norwegian University of Life Sciences ISSN: 1894-6402 Faculty of Landscape and Society Department of International environment and development studies, Noragric Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) Thesis 2017:64 Camilla Houeland Camilla Punching above their weight: Nigerian trade unions in the political economy of oil Nigeriansk fagbevegelse i den politiske oljeøkonomien Postboks 5003 Camilla Houeland NO-1432 Ås, Norway +47 67 23 00 00 www.nmbu.no Punching above their weight Nigerian trade unions in the political economy of oil Nigeriansk fagbevegelse i den politiske oljeøkonomien Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) Thesis Camilla Houeland Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Noragric Faculty of Landscape and Society Norwegian University of Life Sciences 2017 Thesis number 2017:64 ISSN 1894-6402 ISBN 978-82-575-1461-7 Table of contents Table of contents ................................................................................................................... I Summary .............................................................................................................................. V Sammendrag ..................................................................................................................... VIII Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... XIII Abbreviations ................................................................................................................. XVII Chapter 1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................1 Bringing trade unions back in ..................................................................................... 1 Nigerian trade unions .................................................................................................. 2 Focus and research questions: Oil economy, democracy and the fuel subsidy .......... 4 Agency ........................................................................................................................ 7 The literature ............................................................................................................... 8 Background and motivation ...................................................................................... 12 Structure of the dissertation ...................................................................................... 17 Chapter 2 Critical realism ....................................................................................................19 The realist ontology: the social is real, but complex................................................. 20 The critical epistemology: revealing mechanisms .................................................... 23 Critical realism and methods .................................................................................... 25 A critical realist reflection on theoretical positions .................................................. 26 Chapter 3 Analytical and conceptual framework ................................................................30 Globalisation, labour crises and opportunities .......................................................... 31 The great transformations and their countermovements ..................................... 31 Capital movement, shifting power relations and labour uprisings ...................... 33 Trade unions going global and public ................................................................. 37 Trade unions in and between state, market and society ............................................ 40 The market: Labour market regulators or class conflict ...................................... 41 The state: social partners, political actors and worker citizens ........................... 44 Society: ‘schools of war’ or social movement union? ......................................... 47 Labour agency and powers ....................................................................................... 53 Labour agency ..................................................................................................... 53 I Labour agency in Africa ...................................................................................... 56 Power and labour power ...................................................................................... 58 Chapter 4 The extended case method ..................................................................................68 The extended case study method .............................................................................. 69 Finding the case and narrowing down ...................................................................... 70 The Nigerian unions ............................................................................................ 70 2012 fuel subsidy protests and the oil unions in the Niger Delta ........................ 71 Extensions into field, over time and space ................................................................ 75 Visits to the field.................................................................................................. 75 Of power relations and politics in the field ......................................................... 82 Not a fly on the wall: about my position ............................................................. 88 Interviews ............................................................................................................ 95 Extensions from small to big .................................................................................... 99 Between micro and macro; social manifestations and theoretical explanations 100 Six ethnographic fallacies .................................................................................. 101 Chapter 5 Emergence and development of the Nigerian trade unions ..............................105 1912–1960 colonial state and embryonic capitalism: trade union emergence and independence struggle ...................................................................................... 107 The colonial state project and early capitalism ................................................. 107 Wage labour and early trade unions .................................................................. 109 Class, race and citizenship rights ....................................................................... 111 1960s independence and social divisions: trade unions’ fragmented growth ......... 114 Ambivalent state relations and ideological divisions ........................................ 115 Understanding the Nigerian state and capital through prebendalism ................ 116 Unions fighting prebendalism ........................................................................... 117 1966/1967: the end of democracy and civil war ................................................ 120 Federalisation and the labour market ................................................................. 122 1970s the oil-fuelled developmental state: trade union growth and consolidation . 123 Opportunities and vulnerabilities in the petro-state ........................................... 124 The 1978 labour pact: state forced trade union unification ............................... 128 II 1980-1999 crisis, adjustments and repression: trade union radicalisation and social mobilisation ...................................................................................................... 130 Economic crisis and liberalisation ..................................................................... 131 Trade unions’ shifting powers and relations...................................................... 136 Countercyclical union power, anti-SAP and pro-democracy struggles ............. 141 1999 The Fourth Republic: democracy, economic growth and continued insecurities .......................................................................................................................... 146 Economic growth and optimism ........................................................................ 147 Continued insecurities for the Nigerian majority .............................................. 149 Trade union growth and increasing labour insecurities ..................................... 151 Continued prebendalism: elections and party politics ....................................... 156 Civil society and challenges to prebendal rule .................................................. 160 Summing up ............................................................................................................ 162 Chapter 6 Summary of papers ...........................................................................................163 Paper 1: Between the street and Aso Rock: The role of the Nigerian trade unions in the 2012 fuel subsidy protests .......................................................................... 163 Paper 2: Casualisation and conflict in the Niger Delta: Nigerian oil workers' unions between companies and communities .............................................................. 165 Paper 3: Popular protest against fuel subsidy removal: Nigerian trade unions as mediators of a social contract ........................................................................... 167 Chapter 7 conclusions: Nigerian unions punching above their weight .............................170 Agency and labour’s multiple roles and relations ..................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Case of Nigeria Labour Congress
    RWPBM1404 Regent’s Working Papers in Business & Management 2014 Working Paper 1404: RWPBM1404 ___________________________________________________________________________ Political Developments, Trade Union and Social Movement Unionism: A Case of Nigeria Labour Congress Michael Oyelere Regent’s University London, Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4NS, UK. [email protected] Abstract: This paper examines the state of organized labour under oppressive governments and austerity economic practices. Using a survey of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) members, this paper revealed how political developments and economic policies have influenced the Labour movement in Nigeria. It concludes that social movement role is germane to union clout. However, with growing informal sector employees, decline of the formal sector employment and increasing attempts by successive governments to limit union social movement role, how can the union galvanize support for its program and retain its clout? Keywords: Labour Movement; Social Movement; Unionism; Nigeria; Labour Congress. Word count: 8,916. 1 RWPBM1404 1. Introduction The industrial relations system in most developing economies has undergone tremendous systematic transformation in nature and context over the last three to four decades. This, on the one hand, has been attributed to the internal political economy of the individual states. Whilst on the other, some have argued that the forces of globalization have immensely influenced the politico-economic development of nation states. In recent years, however, as part of development economics discourse aimed at understanding the trend and reason for these changes, a new emphasis has emerged dealing with economic development and labour institutions. One stream of the institutional analysis has drawn on historical evidence in order to explain the root causes of welfare differences between the “haves and the haves not”.
    [Show full text]
  • Globalization and the Trade Union Movement in Nigeria
    IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 18, Issue 1 (Nov. - Dec. 2013), PP 15-22 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845. www.iosrjournals.org Globalization and the Trade Union Movement in Nigeria Alhaji Ahmadu Ibrahim Department Of Sociology, Yobe State University Pmb 1144 Damaturu, Yobe State, Nigeria Abstract: The penetration of the third world societies and their integration into the organic unity structure of the western capitalism via globalization had the greatest impact upon the working class and its organizations- trade unions. And trade unions are often in contestation with the spirit of capitalism currently globalized. The consequences and challenges for the trade union movement in Nigeria that results from the various strategies that are adopted and applied are analyzed. Evidently, globalization through neo-liberal policies impacted negatively on the working class and its organization; by redefining work, skills obsolescence and deskilling of workers, re-engineering, contracting and sub-contracting and casualization of labour, increased job insecurity and unemployment. Similarly, it has led to pauperization of the working class, withdrawal of social provisioning and commodification of basic services by government, increased cost of living, declined in workers’ welfarism, consolidation of inequality and erosion of industrial democracy, with their attendant consequences on the organization of trade unionism in Nigeria. The study concludes that, the challenges for the trade union movement in Nigeria results from the various strategies that are adopted and applied by agents/driving forces of globalization. it is considered imperative for workers to be united in confronting the enormous power of capital. This can be done through the collective effort that required both socio-political and economic responses from the trade union movement in Nigeria.
    [Show full text]
  • Important Notice
    IMPORTANT NOTICE IMPORTANT: You must read the following disclaimer before continuing. The following disclaimer applies to the Base Prospectus following this notice, and you are therefore advised to read this disclaimer carefully before reading, accessing or making any other use of the attached Base Prospectus. In accessing the attached Base Prospectus, you agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions, including any modifications to them from time to time, each time you receive any information from the Issuer, the Arrangers and the Dealers as a result of such access. Confirmation of Your Representation: By accessing the attached Base Prospectus you have confirmed to Citigroup Global Markets Limited and Standard Chartered Bank (together, the “Arrangers” and “Dealers” and each an “Arranger” and “Dealer”) and the Federal Republic of Nigeria (the “Issuer”) that (i) you understand and agree to the terms set out herein, (ii) you are either (a) a person who is outside the United States and that the electronic mail address you have given is not located in the United States, its territories and possessions, or (b) a person that is a “Qualified Institutional Buyer” (a “QIB”) within the meaning of Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), (iii) you consent to delivery by electronic transmission, (iv) you will not transmit the attached Base Prospectus (or any copy of it or part thereof) or disclose, whether orally or in writing, any of its contents to any other person except with the consent of the Arrangers and the Dealers, and (v) you acknowledge that you will make your own assessment regarding any legal, taxation or other economic considerations with respect to your decision to subscribe for or purchase any of the Notes.
    [Show full text]
  • Compensation Mechanisms for Fuel Subsidy Removal in Nigeria
    Compensation Mechanisms for Fuel Subsidy Removal in Nigeria GSI REPORT Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER) © 2014 The International Institute for Sustainable DevelopmentDecember 2016 © 2016 International Institute for Sustainable Development | IISD.org/gsi Compensation Mechanisms for Fuel Subsidy Removal in Nigeria © 2016 The International Institute for Sustainable Development Published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development. International Institute for Sustainable Development Head Office The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is one of 111 Lombard Avenue, Suite 325 Winnipeg, Manitoba the world’s leading centres of research and innovation. The Institute provides Canada R3B 0T4 practical solutions to the growing challenges and opportunities of integrating environmental and social priorities with economic development. We report on Tel: +1 (204) 958-7700 international negotiations and share knowledge gained through collaborative Website: www.iisd.org projects, resulting in more rigorous research, stronger global networks, and Twitter: @IISD_news better engagement among researchers, citizens, businesses and policy-makers. IISD is registered as a charitable organization in Canada and has 501(c)(3) status in the United States. IISD receives core operating support from the Government of Canada, provided through the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and from the Province of Manitoba. The Institute receives project funding from numerous governments inside and outside Canada, United Nations agencies, foundations, the private sector, and individuals. About GSI Global Subsidies Initiative GSI is an initiative of the International Institute for Sustainable Development International Environment House 2, (IISD). GSI is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and works with partners 9 chemin de Balexert located around the world. Its principal funders have included the governments 1219 Châtelaine of Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United Geneva, Switzerland Kingdom.
    [Show full text]
  • Nigeria‟S Return to Civil Rule in 1999 Has Opened the Democratic Space in the Country Which Resulted Into a New Form of Labour Regime
    1 | Page Labour and the Politics of alliance Muttaqa Yushau ABSTRACT: Nigeria‟s return to civil rule in 1999 has opened the democratic space in the country which resulted into a new form of labour regime. With the widening of the political space, labour politics was engendered by new form of alliances that sort to engage the state. The formation of labour civil society coalition in Nigeria is watershed in forging alliances of popular forces in addressing socio-economic and political inequalities in Nigeria. For instance the two trade union centers in Nigeria i.e. Nigeria Labour congress, (NLC) and Trade Union Congress, (TUC) aligned several occasions with the civil society to advocate for pro-poor macro- economic policies. The neo-liberal posture of the Nigeria‟s civilian regime has been duly challenged by these forces. Three issues were at the fore of their campaign, namely; wage review (asking for an increased minimum wage), electoral reform, and fighting the deregulation of the oil sector. This paper seeks to address the role of labour and civil society coalition in engaging the state, by addressing the following questions: How did the popular forces impacted on the government decisions? To what extent has the popular forces achieved their campaign issues? What alternative policy realms do the popular forces initiate? What were the major challenges confronted in the struggle? How the working classes in Nigeria viewed these alliances and its impact on their livelihood? The research uses both primary and secondary data, at the primary level a survey was conducted using interviews and questionnaire instruments.
    [Show full text]
  • Personalities and Labour Activism in Nigeria: the Contributions of Michael Imuodu and Adams Oshiomhole
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by London Met Repository Information, Society and Justice, Volume 2 No. 2, June 2009: pp 153-164 ISSN 1756-1078 Personalities and labour activism in Nigeria: the contributions of Michael Imuodu and Adams Oshiomhole Omon Merry Osiki1 Abstract The role of individuals as the locomotive of history and labour activism is well stressed in Marxist perspective of social change, which is anchored on the belief that vibrant and articulate labour leadership has often produced radical reactions and resistance to oppressive regimes and maladministration. This fact sheds light on the roles played by Michael Imoudu and Adams Oshiomhole in the struggles for national liberation and the advancement of the welfare of the working class and the masses of the Nigerian state through their selfless labour activism, organization of series of national strikes and mass protests that sometimes exposed them to risks and state brutality. This article offers a historical reflection of the roles played by both Imoudu and Oshiomhole in the history of labour unionism and activism in Nigeria and interrogates the impact of socio-economic forces and the consciousness of a humble background as indigenes of Edo minority group in Nigeria and how this helped to galvanize their relentless struggle for the enthronement of justice, equity and wellbeing for the helpless workers in Nigeria. It argues that both Imoudu and Oshiomhole were very important in creating the necessary impetus among the working class in their struggle against oppressive and exploitative socio-economic and political conditions in the Nigerian state.
    [Show full text]
  • Parliament of the Streets: Mass Strikes and Street Protests That Shook
    Page 2 | Parliament of the streets: Mass strikes and street protests that shook Nigeria in 2012 Published by: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Nigeria Office, 12 Marrakesh Street, Wuse II, Abuja, Nigeria Tel +234 803 899 8708 [email protected] Resident Representative Seija Sturies First impression in October, 2015 Printed by: Visart Publishing Nigeria Limited 08069541672, 08037042207 [email protected] ©Copyright with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung ISBN: 978 978 36421 2 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holders and the publishers. Short extracts may be quoted, provided the source is fully acknowledged. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily the ones of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung or of the organisation for which the authors work. Dedication To Our Comrades Now Gone; Alao Aka-Bashorun, who led the way; Chima Ubani, who rejected compromise; Beko Ransome – Kuti, the Spirit of Resistance; Ben Edehrue, who was at workers service ‘worldwide’ Wahab Omorilewa Goodluck, the ultimate mass organizer; Tina ‘Iron Lady’ Oladimeji, the songstress of Street Protests: And Those who lost their lives, Or live the scars of The January 2012 Protests. Page 4 | Parliament of the streets: Mass strikes and street protests that shook Nigeria in 2012 “Until the lions start to write their own history about hunting, only the story of
    [Show full text]
  • Trade Unionism and Governance in Nigeria: a Paradigm Shift from Labour Activism to Political Opposition
    Information, Society and Justice, Volume 2 No. 2, June 2009: pp 139-152 ISSN 1756-1078 Trade unionism and governance in Nigeria: A paradigm shift from labour activism to political opposition Kenneth Chukwuemeka Nwoko1 Abstract The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has, since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, been the platform for the Nigerian people to query government policies, actions and inaction, not only for the Nigerian working class, but the entire Nigerian peoples. Such policies include: privatization and commercialization of public institutions and services, incessant fuel hikes, retrenchments of workers and implementation of prescribed conditions and unfavourable policies of international monopoly finance capitalist institutions, etc. This paper investigates the activities of the Nigeria Labour Congress, as a credible opposition to the ruling party in Nigeria. It examines the conditions that necessitated this additional responsibility on the NLC as well as the nexus between credible opposition and workers’ welfarism. The paper argues that the emergence of the Labour Party in the country’s political landscape and its relative acceptance is underpinned by the functionality of its platform as the “mouthpiece of the masses.” Introduction All over the world, trade unions had always represented the vanguard of the working class’ interests against capitalist exploitations. In the contemporary times however, especially in the developing countries, trade unions have come to assume roles that transcend the traditional role of protection of workers’ welfare and class liberation. In Nigeria, trade unions fought against colonial rule and exploitation of the Nigerian State during the colonial period. The activities of trade unions, under the umbrella of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) during the military dictatorship of the late 1980s and the 1990s hastened the return to democratic rule in the country.
    [Show full text]