Using special education as tool to end strikes

It is an open secret that industrial harmony can only be achieved if key labour players i.e., workers, employers and government see themselves as partners instead of adversaries.Even in the quest for profit and higher wages, stakeholders would be best served if they agree that their survival depends on keeping the business going so as […]

It is an open secret that industrial harmony can only be achieved if key labour players i.e., workers, employers and government see themselves as partners instead of adversaries.
Even in the quest for profit and higher wages, stakeholders would be best served if they agree that their survival depends on keeping the business going so as to continually have something to share.
In the last couple of years, unions in educational institutions from the primary to the tertiary level, the banks, postal service, civil servants and others have gone on strike or threatened to go on strike due to inability to agree with their employers, mostly government.
Polytechnic workers and their colleagues in the colleges of education just returned from strike which lasted close to a year because, according to them, government did not implement an agreement it separately entered into with them.        
Focus is on government because it is not just an arbiter but also a major employer of labour. Most observers believe that the main reason for conflict is government’s refusal to implement agreements it entered into, especially if it is an inherited one. There is no continuity; deals painstakingly reached by previous administrations are thrown away with demands for new deals and in some extreme cases, denial of such agreements.
Experts have consistently made case for education with content which targets stakeholders, especially government as an employer. This is to encourage ownership of deals reached and to ensure a smooth implementation that does not leave any party feeling short-changed.
The labour unions already have an edge because of the many organisations both local and international that regularly train and retrain them on negotiation skills and strategies to employ when dealing with employers.
However, the good news is that government, not just the one at centre but also states and even the local governments can benefit from such trainings and in the process create mutually beneficial relationships with unionists.
One organisation that has been at the forefront of labour training in Africa is the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS).
A clear leader in the West African sub-region, MINILS, based in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital recently signed an agreement with the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation (ITC-ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland to strengthen staff capacity.
This will further enhance the capacity of the institution which has trained over 20,000 workers and management staff in both the private and public sectors of the economy in the years it has been in existence.
The memorandum of understanding which was signed on behalf of ITC-ILO, based in Turin, Italy by its Director Patricia O’ Donovan and for MINILS by its Director General John Olanrewaju would facilitate capacity building interventions by ITC-ILO in the form of National-level learning activities in Turin and Nigeria for MINILS staff.
The deal covers learning and support services for specialized projects and activities of Nigeria’s labour administration system, including capacity building in the area of inspections and labour standards management.
ITC will also train Nigerian academics and professionals, especially in the areas of Training & Learning Methods, Research & Policy Analysis, and Labour Administration & Labour Standards, and Social Protection.
The collaboration will focus on researching emerging labour and employment relations themes such as non-standard work and the informal economy, development of innovative learning platforms and education programmes with emphasis on low residency and learning at distance for workers and adult learners.
It will include technical assistance in the form of facilitating opportunities for strengthening MINILS’ capacity in terms of providing learning services and interventions such as capacitating MINILS’ library and by way of support with learning resources.
MINILS has been issuing accredited diploma certificates in a couple of courses over the years and most are targeted at creating a harmonious working relationship for workers and business owners.
It is believed that if employers both in the private and public sectors create labour departments with well trained personnel to liaise with unions, there would be a significant drop in acrimony between employers and employees.
This will drastically reduce the money and man-hour that is lost anytime workers go on strike.