arrangement the unions' drive for membership was enhanced across sectors of the economy. However, two developments have succeeded in altering the balance of forces against unfettered union membership shortly after the return to civilian rule. The first was the privatization of public enterprises and the deregulation of key sectors of the economy that were under the full control of the Nigerian state. The second development was the Trade Union Amendment Act of 2005 which, among other provisions, made union membership voluntary. In the telecommunication sector government enjoyed a near monopoly through Nigerian Telecommunications Plc(NITEL) and its mobile telephony subsidiary(M-TEL). The entry of new players into the sector and their reluctance to comply with the provisions of Section 24(sub-sections1& 2) of the Trade Union Act (CAP 437(LFN, 1990) on unionisation has restricted unionism only to NITEL. As such, one can talk of a near total absence of unionism in the telecommunication sector. This is certainly a huge deficit for a sector that is advertised as the fastest growing with a lot of foreign investment. This puts workers at a disadvantage in respect of their rights as the absence of unions gives employers the unfettered opportunity to act unilaterally in managing the employer-employee relations. Terms and conditions that are unilaterally conceded and not negotiated can be withdrawn in the same manner. The situation persists in spite of the efforts of the relevant unions to organise prospective members in the new companies operating in the sector. The level of unionisation in the other two sectors is much higher. In the banking sector, according to trade union officials, it is about two-third with 16 out of 24 banks unionised at the level of senior staff, which is a remarkable improvement over what obtained in the immediate post-consolidation period when only 6 banks allowed their workers to belong to the unions in the industry(Source: field interview with officials of NUBIFIE and ASSBIFI, 2009). The efforts of the union that yielded fruit are highlighted in Box 1 below. 49