International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume II, Issue I, January 2018 | ISSN 2454–6186

The Causes and Effects of Industrial Disputes by the Academic Staff Union of Colleges of Education: A Case Study of Federal College of Education, Zaria.

Yusuf Halilu Zakari
 Department of Economics, School of Arts and Social Sciences,Federal College of Education, P.M.B. 1041, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria.

Abstract— Education plays a crucial role in driving the process of sustainable national development. This originates from the central position it occupies in nation building but unfortunately, industrial disputes have remained pervasive in the nation’s tertiary education sub – sector. This work is premised on determining the causes and effects of industrial disputes by the Academic Staff Union of Colleges of Education (COEASU) with special reference to the Federal College of Education, Zaria (FCEZ) from 1999 – 2014. It puts firmly that, the recent industrial dispute between the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) and Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) relates to class dispute which is aimed at protecting the interest of the present and future working force of the Colleges of Education (CoEs) and sister institutions against any form of exploitative tendencies from the Federal Government. The study adopted the experimental survey research and it studied a population of staff and students of the Federal College of Education, Zaria (FCEZ) wherein a sample size of 268 was drawn from the population accordingly using probability sampling. A total of two hundred and sixty – eight (268) questionnaires were administered to the sampled respondents by means of the simple random sampling (SRS) technique while the data was analysed utilizing the Chi – square inferential statistical test.The research findings revealed that while the frequency of dispute(s) in the college system still remains low till date, the causes of dispute were not limited to the non – payment of workers’ entitlements, lack of conducive working environment, but more importantly government’s penchant renege for agreements. Also, the effects include loss of man – hour, poor academic performance amongst others. However, it recommends that COEASU should explore effectively the principles of collective bargaining through dialogue; periodic needs assessment so as to address infrastructural deficiencies in the Colleges; and the government should at all times respect and fulfil agreements reached with the union so as to boost productivity in the system through effective industrial relations.

Keywords— Industrial dispute, industrial relations, College, collective bargaining