RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION A CASE STUDY OF FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC, BIDA, NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Effective collective bargaining in an organization has been an important role for the human resources department to effectively plan, control, design, discharge responsibilities and authorities to various employees in order to reach or meet the organizational goals and objectives. Hence, the present study examined three major collective bargaining variables (integrative, distributive and productivity) as antecedents of conflict resolution. The population comprised 694 staff of the Federal Polytechnic, Bida of Niger State; as a result, the sample size determined is 254. A well- structured self-administered questionnaire was used as the main tool for data collection and was administered to 254 respondents out of which 248 were retrieved and appropriately filled. Reliability of the research instrument was calculated and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.868. Data were analysed using multiple regression analysis. From the hypotheses tested, the result indicated that there is a relationship between integrative bargaining and conflict resolution in Federal Polytechnic, Bida of Niger State. Findings also revealed that distributive bargaining has positive relationship with conflict resolution in Federal, Bida of Niger State. The study concluded that all the relationships between collective bargaining and conflict resolution were significant resulting in the rejection of all the three null hypotheses, H01 to H02 and accepted all the alternate hypotheses. Furthermore, this study also recommended that collective bargaining should be allowed in all establishments in order to forestall industrial conflict and enhance peace and harmony. Finally, the study also suggested that future studies should focus on other sectors apart from tertiary institutions.