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DOCK WORKERS UNION OF NIGERIA AND 1. NATIONAL UNION OF DOCK LABOUR EMPLOYERS 2. NIGERIAN PORTS AUTHORITY (NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL COURT) H ON. JUSTICE (CHIEF) P.A. ATILADE PRESIDENT E.O. OLOWU, ESQ MEMBER B. N. OBUA, ESQ MEMBER SUIT NO: NIC/11/90 DATE OF JUDGMENT 19TH JULY, 1991. LABOUR LAW Civil service - Dock workers - Whether civil servants. LABOUR LAW Dock Labour Board - Functions of - Section 3(1), Dock Labour Decree, 1979. LABOUR LAW National Joint Industrial Council - National Public Service Negotiating Council - Respective status of- Sector of operation of each. ISSUES: 1. Whether dock workers are civil servants or employees of the private sector. 2. Whether the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) relief arrears should be paid as from 1st July, 1989 and not as from 1st May, 1990. FACTS: In 1989, the President of Nigeria granted relief package to all workers Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) to ameliorate the effects of the harsh economic conditions in the country on Nigerian workers, and that payment of the package should be effective from 1st July, 1989. Dockworkers were refused payment of the SAP relief package. As a result, the Appellant union took the matter to the Industrial Arbitration Panel. The Panel awarded SAP relief effective is May, 1990. Dissatisfied, the Appellant raised objection to the Panel’s award alleging that they ought to have been paid from 1St July, 1989 as all public sector workers were paid. Consequently, the matter was referred to the National Industrial Court. HELD: (Dismissing the appeal): 1. On Whether dock workers are civil servants - Dockworkers are in the private sector, and are not civil servants. 2. On Functions of the Dock Labour Board - By virtue of section 3(1) of the Dock Labour Board Decree of 1979, the functions of the Board are to set up, with the aid of the Federal Ministry of Labour after consultation with registered dockworkers and registered dock labour employers, a Joint Industrial Council for the dock labour industry. 3. On Status of the National Joint Industrial Council and National Public Service Negotiating Council- National Joint Industrial Council (NJIC), by the industrial relations practice in Nigeria, essentially operates in the private sector of the economy while the Public Service Negotiating Council (NPSNC) functions in the public sector.