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MANAGEMENT OFMETAL CONSTRUCTION (W.A.) LIMITED AND METAL PRODUCTS WORKERS' UNION OFNIGERIA (NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL COURT) H ON. JUSTICE (CHIEF) P.A. ATILADE - PRESIDENT DR O.I. ODUMOSU - MEMBER S.O. KOKU,ESQ. - MEMBER DR. E. C. IWUJI - MEMBER ALHAJI Z.M. BELLO - MEMBER SUIT NO: NIC/2/834 DATE OF JUDGMENT FRIDAY, 28TH DECEMBER, 1984 LABOUR LAW Bonus - Christmas bonus - Where employer makes definite promise to pay - Entitlement of workers thereto. LABOUR LAW Trade dispute - Cessation of work - Cessation of work in an establishment at a particular period of time - Whether result of lock-out or a strike -Determination of- Power of Minister to give a ruling thereon. TRADE DISPUTE Collective agreement - Meaning of - Section l(k), Trade Disputes (Amendment) Act, 1977 -Form of - Whether any format required of a document to constitute - Minutes of a meeting held between management and workers' representatives - Whether can constitute collective agreement. LABOUR LAW Document - Document executed by employer and workers' representatives - How treated. LABOUR LAW Lock-out of workers - Refusal of workers to resume work when asked to do so by employer -Effect - Whether workers must be deemed to have left the service of the company - Workers' entitlement to payment of end-of-service benefits. LABOUR LAW Lock-out of workers - Where there is a lock-out of workers by employer - Whether workers entitled to payment of salaries for period thereof. TRADE DISPUTE National Industrial Court - Memorandum of parties - Irrelevant paragraphs in a party’s memorandum - Power of to strike out. TRADE DISPUTE Cessation of work - Cessation of work in an establishment at a particular period of time- Whether result of lock-out or strike-Determination of-Power Minister to give a ruling thereon. TRADE DISPUTE Lock-out of workers - Refusal of workers; resume work when asked to do so S employer - Effect - Whether workers must be deemed to have left the service of the company - Workers' entitlement to payment of end-of-service benefits. TRADE DISPUTE Lock-out of workers – where there is a lock-out of workers by employer- whether workers entitled to payment of salaries for period thereof. ISSUES: 1. Whether Exhibit "SBJI", that is, minutes of a meeting held between management of the Appellant and representatives of the Respondent Union, dated 22nd November, 1982, was a collective agreement. 2. Whether the Contracts of employment had been terminated, and if so, when? 5. Whether the Respondent proved by evidence that the Appellant was financial able to pay the Christmas bonus for December, 1982. FACTS: On 22nd November 1982, the parties held a meeting and the minutes of the meeting was duly signed by both parties. It was therein agreed that 100% of a month's salary would received as Christmas bonus on or about the 15th of December, 1982 by members of Respondent union. The Appellant failed to make good its promise to pay to the workers both the December 1982 mid month salary and the Christmas bonus. No representative of the management was to attend to the workers or to explain to them why the management was unable to fulfill its obligation under the minutes of the said meeting. The workers waited calmly till the closing time, but no management staff showed up. The situation lasted from 15th to 23rd December, 1982 when Police moved in and flushed out the workers from the company's premises. The matter was referred to the Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP), which made its award. The Appellant objected to the 1st leg of the Award and the dispute was referred to the till Industrial Court. The Appellant contended that the minutes of the meeting held on 22nd November 1982 was not binding on the parties, and that the cessation of work by the workers from 15th - 23rd December, 1982 was an illegal strike by the workers. On the part of the Respondents, it was argued that the minutes was a collective agreement between the parties and that the company was bound to pay the Christmas bonus since it paid Christmas 1981 when it made less profits than it did 1982. HELD: Granting payment of 'end-of-service benefits and allowances to the Respondent): 1. Meaning of collective agreement - By section l(k) of the Trade Disputes (Amendment) Act, 1977, collective agreement means any agreement in writing for the settlement of disputes and relating to terms of employment and physical conditions of work concluded between an employer, a group of employers or one or more organizations -presenting employers on the one hand; and one or more trade unions or organizations representing workers, or duly appointed representatives of any body of workers, on the other hand. 2. On Form of a collective agreement- No legal format is required before a document can be recognized as a collective agreement. 3. On whether minutes of a meeting between management and representatives of worker' union constitutes collective agreement - Minutes of meeting held between the management of a company and the representatives of workers' union can constitute a collective agreement, not only in accordance with trade union practice but also within Section l(k) of the Trade Amendment) Decree No.54 of 1977. 4. One Effect of refusal of workers to resume work when asked to do after a lock-out entitled to be paid for period of lock-out and for end-of- service Where there is a lock-out of workers by management and later the management writes to the workers to return to work not later than a particular date, all the workers who fail to resume work on that set date must be deemed to have left the service of the company with effect from that date. Such workers are, however entitled to be paid their full salaries up to and including that date. Such workers an also entitled to payment of end-of-service benefits in accordance with the collective agreement between the management and the workers' union. 5. On Workers' entitlement to payment of salaries during lock-out - Where there is a lock-out of workers by management, the workers are entitled to payment of full salaries for the period of the lock-out. 6. On workers' entitlement to payment of Christmas bonus in spite of loss suffered by company - Where there is a previous definite promise by the company to pay bonus workers, the workers would be entitled to payment of Christmas bonus in spite of any loss suffered by the company in that year. The only issue will be as to the amount of bonus to be paid and be guided on the negotiations between the par. in that regard. 7. On Power of Minister to give a ruling as to whether cessation of work an particular period of time was a result of a lock-out or a strike - The Honourable Minister for Employment, Labour and Productivity has pl¬under Section 32(A)(2) of the Trade Disputes (Amendment) Decree No.54 of 1977 to give a ruling as to whether the cessation of work in an establishment particular period of time was a result of a lock-out or a strike. HON. JUSTICE (CHIEF) P.A. ATILADE PRESIDENT, DR O.I. ODUMOSU MEMBER, S.O. KOKU,ESQ. MEMBER, DR. E.C. IWUJI MEMBER, Z.M. BELLO MEMBER