The recession and workers' struggles in the vehicle assembly plants: Steyr — Nigeria

Abstract

Retrenchment In Nigerian vehicle assembly plants in consequence of economic recession has provoked an active response from the workforce. At Steyr‐Nigeria in Bauchi, workers walked out in October 1985 in protest at the management's intransigence in negotiations with union officials. Bangura charts their initial success and provides a lucid account of the reasons for their ultimate failure. His analysis of the Steyr‐Nigeria dispute is explicitly situated within the broader context of policy and economic performance in the Nigerian economy as a whole. He considers the extent to which workers emerged as victims of policy essentially motivated by the interests of quick profits and production of luxury consumer goods for an emergent bourgeoisie. The irrationality of such policy as a means of enhancing Nigeria's development, or even of catering to a market which might reasonably be expected to emerge, is detailed by the author. Bangura focuses on a single case, but his concern is not with the factors making for immediate industrial victory. It is rather with a broader strategy extending beyond the preservation of workers' jobs in any given industrial unit to the interests of the class as a whole. What is called for, he argues, is a policy which matches needs of the entire population with available resources and which gives priority to a society's disadvantaged members.

Economic crisis and the coping strategies of indigenous automobile entrepreneurs in northern Nigeria, 1983-2014

“…This meant that both the vehicle assembly plants and car dealers found themselves virtually out of the market. 21 The devaluation escalated the price of vehicles by between 200 and 400 per cent. 22 This was true of imported consumer items as well as those produced locally.…”

“…For instance, the price of VW Beetle in 1975 was sold for N2,955 but had risen consistently from then to N6,662 in 1985, an increase of about 190 per cent. 21 The price variations within these periods are even minimal compared to how suddenly prices jumped after SAP was put in place in 1986. This vary model's price went up from N9,000 in march 1986 to N19,780 in October 1986, just a month after SAP and by February 1987 it had gone up to N26,556 and to N31,948 by December 1987.…”

The State and Civil Society: Transition and Prospects of Labour Geographies in an Era of Economic Globalisation in Nigeria and South Africa

“…As a consequence, currency devaluation, large-scale privatisation, and reduction of the oil subsidy were fully endorsed (Olukoshi, 1989;Anunobi, 1992). Restructuring and retrenchments heavily affected the industrial working class (Bangura, 1987). Many workers were plunged into the circuits of the informal sector and undetected occupations.…”