Here's why Trade union is important to the Nigerian workers

The history of trade unionism can be traced to the struggles of the English workers.

This workforce was made up of peasants who irrespective of their inputs to the English economy, had their lands coldly taken away from them.

Not just that, they were forced to work for long hours usually between 12-18 hours daily under poor conditions in the factories and mines in return for low wages.

This was around the historical 18th-century industrial revolution in Britain.

It was this struggle that birthed the earliest trade unions. But as expected, they were declared illegal and heavily subdued, but were later granted recognition by the government.

What is trade union?

According to the business dictionary, a trade union is an organization whose membership consists of workers and union leaders, united to protect and promote their common interests.

It goes further to state that its principal  purposes consist the following:

1. Negotiate wages and working condition terms

2. Regulate relations between workers (its members) and the employer

3. Take collective action to enforce the terms of collective bargaining,

4. Raise new demands on behalf of its members

5. Help settle both internal and external grievances of members.