Punching above their weight : Nigerian trade unions in the political economy of oil

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to explore trade union agency and its limits in an African country that is highly dependent on oil. The overall research question is: What are the opportunities and constraints to trade union agency in Nigeria?

This case study of the Nigerian trade unions focuses on the 2012 fuel subsidy protests that constituted among the biggest popular mobilisations in Nigerian history. Many of the Nigerian trade unions’ achievements over the last decades relate to their leading role in the recurring and successful resistance against fuel subsidy removals. This is widely recognised, but insufficiently understood, and the unions are both over- and under-estimated in terms of their capacities.

The thesis addresses a research gap on African trade unions. It is motivated by an apparent paradox. On one hand, are theoretical dismissals of the relevance of trade unions, in assuming that there is a limited civic agency and space for trade unions in African states and in petro-economies. On the other, are reports of widespread labour rights abuses from many African governments and employers, undoubtedly due to the significance of the unions. Additionally, whereas emerging studies of civic agency in Africa tend to focus on relatively disempowered groups and informal labour, the focus on the strategically positioned trade unions into the analysis opens for a renewed conversation about state–society relations, the constitution of power and discussions about the capacities of social actors to engage with structures.

Theoretically, the thesis engages with the concepts of agency and power. Power is understood as inherent properties or capacities of an actor, while agency concerns the subjective, reflexive and purposeful realisation of these capacities. Agency is further considered as relational, contextual and historical. In understanding the unions’ contexts and relations, the thesis emphasises a holistic understanding of labour’s multiple roles and relations in what I have called the ‘labour triangle’: state, market and society.

Methodologically I have used an extended case method, which is reflexive in nature, combines fieldwork and interviews with theoretical explorations, and implies moving between scales and levels. As agency is rooted in history, the introductory chapter emphasises the specific historical formation of state, market and society in Nigeria. The Nigerian state is characterised by prebendal elite politics, a federalised and divided governance system with divisions according to regions and ethnicities, as well as parallel social logics of the civic and the ‘primordial’ publics. The unions are rooted in a modern, civic public. Although the state has attempted to control the unions, they operate largely autonomously. The Nigerian economy is dominated by oil and a large informal sector, and there are deep class divisions horizontally, between the haves and the have-nots; the elites and the popular masses. Additionally, there are social divisions vertically in terms of ethnicity, religion and region. Although these divisions have at times disturbed union efficiency and the relevance of class identity for mobilisation, the unions largely cut through these separations. Within the unions, ideological divisions between radical and reformist are more prominent. While the oil resources have fuelled the distanced relationship between state and citizen, a growing sense of injustice caused by the lack of redistribution and of popular benefits from the oil resources has been a source for trade unions’ mobilising power. This, together with the workers’ strategic position in the oil economy, allows the unions a particularly strong structural power.

The thesis consists of three articles. The first article – Nigerian unions between the street and Aso Rock: The role of the Nigerian trade unions in the 2012 fuel subsidy protests – critically examines the trade unions’ contested positions and actions during the 2012 protests. Whereas unionists described the outcome as a victory and demonstration of popular sovereignty, fellow protesters expressed anger towards the unions for unfulfilled democratic opportunities and accused the unions of succumbing to bribery. The article shows in practice how the unions’ capacities to mobilise, strike and negotiate were instrumental in the reinstatement of the subsidy, and also how the unions’ agency is both enabled and constrained by their embeddedness in the state, society and the market.

The second article – Casualisation and conflict in the Niger Delta: Nigerian oil workers' unions between companies and communities – explores the particular opportunities and constraints to organised oil workers’ actions. Although the 2012 fuel subsidy protests mobilised an unprecedented number of people on the streets, the government did not call for negotiations until the oil unions threatened to shut down oil production. However, production was never shut down, and the oil unions were criticised for ‘empty threats’ and for abandoning their historical democratic and social role. Based on the premise that the conditions for labour actions are found at the local and industrial workplace levels, the paper explores how processes of informalisation of labour (casualisation) and conflict interlink and affect the local labour regime and the oil unions’ powers in the Niger Delta. It shows how the labour fragmentations and erosions of labour power from casualisation are exacerbated when unfolding into this context of conflict and social fragmentation. Despite the oil unions’ strategic position in the oil industry and their relatively high union density, these processes have challenged both their capacity and will to mobilise, strike and bargain.

The third article – Popular protest against fuel subsidy removal: Nigerian trade unions as mediator of a social contract – explores the popular idea that cheap fuel is an economic right for Nigerian citizens, and is part of a social contract. In contrast to perspectives that underscore the lack of civic opportunities in the relations between the state and its citizens in Nigeria, the article proposes that the protesters asserted and claimed deeper citizenship. They did so by rallying behind the fuel subsidy as a social right, and also by utilising civil rights to bargain and political rights to participate. Here, the trade unions played a critical and mediating role, based in their specific industrial citizenship, with collective forms of representation, organising and bargaining. This social contract is fragile however, and the unions’ roles as mediators of this social contract are both critical and contested.

In addition to expanding our understanding of an African trade union in an oil-dependent economy, this thesis opens for a renewed conversation about state–society relations, power and agency. Whereas agency studies from Africa have focused on relatively powerless actors and the tactical agency of getting by, studying the agency of the relatively powerful unions reveals their ability to influence the surrounding structures. Trade unions have strategic powers in relation to state, market and society in their ability to mobilise socially, hurt the economy through strike action and negotiate with elites in state and market. This allows them to play a far greater role than their relative size suggests. Although Nigeria is among the most difficult countries for unions to operate in, the Nigerian trade unions have contributed to ensuring social benefits to Nigerians through cheap fuel, and they have been a counterforce to the expansion of informal and patronage relations at the workplace. They have additionally contributed to strengthening civic relations and state institutions through a mediating role between state and citizen. The study clearly shows the need to engage with trade unions in the study of power and politics in Africa.

Et tilsynelatende paradoks har motivert denne avhandlingen: På den ene siden avvises fagbevegelsens relevans i afrikanske land og i oljeøkonomier. Teorier hevder at sosialt aktørskap og aktivt medborgerskap har begrensede muligheter i slike kontekster. Det antas også at fagbevegelser har liten betydning på grunn av at lønnsarbeidere er få i økonomier som er lite industrialiserte og har store uformelle sektorer. På den andre siden vitner innsatsen fra stater og næringsliv for å begrense fagorganisering og fagbevegelsens handlingsrom – indikert ved utbredte brudd på faglige rettigheter i afrikanske land – om at fagbevegelsens i praksis anses som (potensielt) viktige og mektige. Mange afrikanske fagbevegelser opplever også press fra andre sivilsamfunnsorganisasjoner om å engasjere seg i en rekke sosiale, økonomiske og politiske spørsmål, utfra forventninger om at de er spesielt effektive endringsagenter. Betydningen av afrikansk fagbevegelse er både over- og undervurdert, og fagbevegelsers konkrete roller i Afrika er utilstrekkelig forstått. Denne avhandlingen bidrar til å fylle et tomrom i forskningen. Formålet med avhandlingen er å undersøke fagbevegelsens vilje og evne til påvirkning i et oljeavhengig afrikansk land gjennom en case-studie fra Nigeria. Det overordnede forskningsspørsmålet er: Hvilke muligheter og begrensninger har nigeriansk fagbevegelse for aktørskap? Fokuset på fagbevegelsen, med sin strategiske politiske, økonomiske og sosiale posisjon, åpner også for en fornyet analyse om sosialt aktørskap, og om forhold mellom stat og samfunn i Afrika.