STRIKE ACTION AS A TOOL FOR ENFORCING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: ITS EFFECT ON HEALTH CARE SERVICE DELIVERY (A CASE STUDY OF UNIVERSITY OF BENIN TEACHING HOSPITAL).

The study examines the effect of strike action as a tool for enforcing collective bargaining on effective health care service delivery. The majority of strike actions are initiated in response complaints from employees, and the number of industrial actions has skyrocketed in Nigeria. Nigeria health care sector has been rocked by strikes. Health care workers across the country have engaged in or threatened various forms of strike action. In all cases the health care systems have been thrown into turmoil. To provide focus for the study, research questions and hypothesis were formulated. Data collected through the use of questionnaire was analyzed using Chi-square statistical technique. According to the analysis, poor pay, refusal to participate in salary reviews, and nonpayment of accrued salaries are the primary causes of strikes among health care workers. The major findings, amongst others, include that strike action carried out by health workers hinder effective health care service delivery as man power is limited and there is increase mortality rate. Based on its findings, the study suggested some recommendations, amongst which include that the government or employers should endeavor to meet a reasonable percentage of health workers demand in order to avert industrial action by health workers, government or employers should always resort to collective bargain with health workers whenever their demands are made to avoid strike