People Before Profit is the foremost party in championing workers’ rights. Our representatives have been the loudest voice for the trade union movement in Stormont and Councils, and we have consistently supported workers on pickets.
Our vision is one that sees workers united to fight back against poor conditions and sectarian division.
In February, Gerry Carroll MLA introduced a Trade Union Freedom Bill which was designed to dismantle Thatcher’s anti-union laws. Stormont has devolved power to give workers more rights yet this was the first attempt to overhaul them for the better.
The Bill was voted down by a block of right-wing parties including the DUP, UUP and the Alliance Party. The inclusion of Alliance on this list shows that their ‘cross-community rhetoric’ does not extend to a united working class.
People Before Profit will continue its fight for workers’ rights.
We will push to:
- Legalise solidarity action: We want to unpick the cornerstone attack of Thatcher, to allow unions to strike in solidarity with others.
- Allow trade unions greater access to workplaces.
- Mandate more employers to recognise a trade union: If your employer refuses to recognise your trade union in the workplace, you can pursue legal action to have the state mandate such recognition. Only workplaces with 21 or more employees can avail of this, but 93% of workplaces across the North have less than 21 employees. They have no power to force an unwilling employer to recognise their collective bargaining. We will reduce the mandatory minimum number of employees from 21 to 5.
- Remove limitations on workplace negotiating: Our trade unions are limited to negotiating with employers on matters linked to pay, hours, and holidays. The result is that many issues which arise for workers are off-limits for their trade unions. We would lift these limitations, allowing unionised workers to be represented on all issues they are concerned with.
- Bring balloting into the 21st century: The law says trade unions must ballot for strike action and internal elections via postal vote which costs a substantial amount of money (hundreds of thousands for bigger unions). In the 21st century, there is no excuse for forbidding unions from balloting electronically, or even in person.
- Shorten and simplify notice periods before strike action can be taken: Our unions have to give 7 days’ notice to an employer before they ballot in a workplace for industrial action. This provides an overwhelming advantage for employers to engage in nefarious tactics to pressure workers to not vote for action, including threats of reduced hours or the sack. We would reduce the requirement to give a notice period from seven days to two.
- Provide greater protection for workers dismissed for taking industrial action: Workers dismissed unfairly because of their participation in industrial action have the right to challenge their dismissal. However, this right is time-limited. We would expand the time frame under which an employee who was dismissed unfairly can challenge this decision to five years.
- Four Day Working Week.
- Ban agency working and zero-hour contracts.
- Workers’ cooperatives: Promote and support workers’ cooperatives to create a working-class cultural shift based on workers’ self-management and workplace democracy.
