Strike Culture in University and Industrial Workplaces in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria: An Industrial Relations Analysis

Abstract

Strikes have become a recurring feature of industrial relations in Nigeria, especially in the university system, where the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has embarked on long national strikes in 2018, 2020 and 2022. This study examined how university lecturers and industrial workers in Owerri, Imo State, explain the persistence of strikes, drawing on the pluralist perspective on industrial relations, Dunlop’s industrial relations systems approach and the idea of psychological contract breach. A mixed-methods design was used. A 35-item questionnaire was completed by 250 respondents (100 ASUU members at Imo State University, 100 workers in unions affiliated to the Nigeria Labour Congress, and 50 factory workers in Naze), and 40 in-depth interviews were held. Most respondents agreed that strikes persist because the government does not honour agreements (84%), because of poor salaries and welfare (78%) and poor personnel management (81%), and because there is no trust between workers and management (87%); 89% agreed that strikes are the only language government understands. Most also agreed that strikes make students spend extra years in school (94%). Interviewees described strikes as a defensive response to agreements that are not implemented. The findings suggest that workers see strikes as a response to failures in collective bargaining and to broken commitments rather than as a habit. The paper argues that what is often called a “strike culture” is better understood as a low-trust cycle in which unimplemented agreements teach workers that only strikes bring results. It recommends timely and enforceable implementation of collective agreements, wider use of mediation before strikes, and more participatory personnel management.