Section 48: Interpretation.

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them respectively, that is to say-
"collective agreement" means any agreement in writing for the settlement of disputes and relating to terms of employment and physical conditions of work concluded between-
(a) an employer, a group of employers or one or more organisations representative of employers, on the one hand; and
(b) one or more trade unions or organisations representing workers, or the duly appointed representative of any body of workers, on the other hand;
"Minister" means the Minister charged with responsibility for matters relating to the welfare of labour;
"essential service" means any service mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act;
"lock-out" means the closing of a place of employment, or the suspension of work, or the refusal by an employer to continue to employ any number of persons employed by him in consequence of a dispute, done with a view to compelling those persons, or to aid another employer in compelling persons employed by him, to accept terms of employment and physical conditions of work;
"President" means the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;
"public officer" means a member of the civil service of the Federation or of a State;
"State" means a state created under the State (Creation and Transitional Provisions) Act;
"strike" means the cessation of work by a body of persons employed acting in combination, or a concerted refusal or a refusal under a common understanding of any number of persons employed to continue to work for an employer in consequence of a dispute, done as a means of compelling their employer or any person or body of persons employed, or to aid other workers in compelling their employer or any persons or body of persons employed, to accept or not to accept terms of employment and physical conditions of work; and in this definition-
(a) "cessation of work" includes deliberately working at less than usual speed or with less than usual efficiency; and
(b) "refusal to continue to work" includes a refusal to work at usual speed or with usual efficiency;
"trade dispute" means any dispute between employers and workers or between workers and workers, which is connected with the employment or non-employment, or the terms of employment and physical conditions of work of any person;
"trade union" has the same meaning as in the Trade Unions Act;
"worker" means any employee, that is to say any public officer or any individual (other than a public officer) who has entered into or works under a contract with an employer, whether the contract is for manual labour, clerical work or otherwise, express or implied, oral or in writing, and whether it is a contract of service or of apprenticeship.
(2) Where it is provided by this Act that an award or the terms of a settlement shall be binding on the employers and workers to whom the award or terms relate, then, as from the date of the award or settlement (or such earlier or later date, if any, as is specified therein), the contract between the employers and workers in question shall be deemed to include a provision that the rate of wages to be paid and the conditions of employment to be observed under the contract shall be in accordance with the award or terms of settlement until varied by a subsequent agreement, settlement or award; and accordingly the provisions of that contract shall be read subject to the award or terms of settlement, and any failure to give effect to the award or terms of settlement shall constitute a breach of contract.