elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation, and Conventions 138 and 182 on abolition of child labour. Some other relevant Conventions are Labour Inspection Convention 81 of 1947, Maternity Protection Convention 103 of 1952 and Tripartite Consultation Convention 144 of 1976. Along with a number of local legislation and constitutional provisions, they constitute part of workers' rights. Of course all the other Conventions prescribe minimum standards which workers can lay claim to for protection and to ensure that work does not demean the workmen and women. Two of the above mentioned instruments, Conventions 87 and 98 are of particular relevance here. This is because they constitute the foundation on which other rights are built within the employment relationship and as such, if the right to organise is circumvented it diminishes the capacity of workers and unions to defend other rights. Similarly, the collective bargaining process affords workers, through representative trade unions, an opportunity to negotiate or re-negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment. Otherwise, they are condemned to the unilateral, if not arbitrary, rule of management in the world of work. The issue of freedom of association is addressed by Convention 87 while Convention 98 focuses on the right to organise and collective bargaining. Some specific provisions of these conventions are worth mentioning. Article 11 of Convention 87 provides that “each member of the ILO for which this Convention is in force undertakes to take all necessary and appropriate measures to ensure that workers and employers may exercise freely the right to organise”. Article 1 of Convention 98 provides that“workers shall enjoy adequate protection against acts of entire union discrimination in respect of their employment”. On its part Article 4 provides that: Measures appropriate to national conditions shall be taken where necessary to encourage and promote the full development and utilization of machinery for voluntary negotiation between employers or employers' organisations and employees with a view to the regulation of terms and conditions of employment by means of collective agreements. Nigeria joined the ILO shortly after independence in 1960 and it has ratified 34 13