MANAGING INDUSTRIAL CONFLICT THROUGH EFFECTIVE NEGOTIATING SKILLS AMONG SELECTED UNION ORGANISATIONS IN LAGOS STATE

Abstract

Negotiation is a common element in labour- management relations in industrial society. This is imperative in order to stem the waves of industrial disputes in the workplace. It is in view of this that the study examined managing industrial conflict through effective negotiating skills among selected union organizations in Lagos state. The specific objectives of the study were: to examine the perception of labour leaders and management representatives on the use of negotiating skills to manage industrial disputes, to examine the levevl of application of negotiating skills in labourmanagement relations and to verify the benefits and challenges of applying negotiating skills to manage workplace disputes. Research designs were both exploratory and survey. A two stage sampling technique consisting of purposive and simple random was used to select five union organizations and respondents. The sample size was 571 using Cochram sample size determination. In-depth interview and questionnaire were used to collect data. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and chi-square statistics at 0.05 level of significance, while qualitative data were content analysed. Majority of the respondents (92.5%) agreed that there should be the use of negotiating skills to manage workplace conflict, while 75% disagreed. While 3.6% of the respondents were rated high in the application of negotiating skills, 15.3% were rated moderate and 62.1% were rated low. It was also discovered that 54.5% of respondents believed that negotiating skills application would promote knowledge, skills and attitudes of union leaders, 26.4% claimed that it would develop their self- confidence and 30.2% agreed that it would enhance motivation and commitment to work. In respect of the challenges that may crop up in applying negotiating skills, 55.5% agreed that there would be challenges while 45.5% did not envisage any challenge.