Abstract

The focus of this study was on trade unionism in the protection of workers’ rights, using Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Port Harcourt (Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company) as a reference. A partly-coded questionnaire was administered on a randomly selected 384 PHCN workers whose selection was without consideration of place of residence, ethno/tribal and religious background. There is a general awareness (99.5%) of existence of workers’ union; a quarter (20%) of the workers is unsatisfied with the quality of welfare facilities in PHCN. The unions are not effective (statistic below 73.16 on a general mean of the mean) in protecting PHCN workers against discriminatory management practices and against unwholesome company policy, due greatly to insufficient fund, corruption and ineffective union leadership. Infringement on workers’ rights is perceived (statistic greater than 76.35 mean of the mean) to retard efficiency in workers’ job performance and to result to friction between union and management.  In recommendation, union leadership should embrace best practices in collective bargaining. Also, character and possession of leadership qualities should be considered in the appointment of union leaders.

Key words:    Electricity company, leadership, Nigeria, trade union, welfare, workers’ rights.