People Before Profit
28th April 2025
For immediate release
“Underwhelming Good Jobs Bill is a missed opportunity to tilt the balance of power towards workers” - Gerry Carroll MLA
Speaking after the Economy Minister delivered an update on her Department’s Good Jobs Bill, Gerry Carroll said: “The Minister’s announcement today is a modest step in the right direction to protect workers’ rights.”
“However, this can fairly be characterised as a ‘catch up’ bill, rather than an effort to genuinely end exploitation and oppression in the workplace. A majority of the proposals are designed to make sure workers in the north benefit from the same basic protections recently introduced - or soon to come into force - in Britain.”
“The Minister has refused to implement an outright ban on zero hours contracts, as promised in New Decade, New Approach. Carers will be let down by the proposal for just one week of unpaid leave per year, and left out of pocket for caring for a loved one. The mislabelled ‘right to disconnect’ will be established through a code of practice, rather than enshrined in law.”
“This is a missed opportunity to shift the balance of power away from bosses and towards workers, and establish the conditions for sectoral collective bargaining. Unions should be empowered with robust rights to access and organise workplaces, and workers should be allowed to engage in solidarity and secondary action. It looks like the Good Jobs Bill isn’t the vehicle that can deliver this transformative change.”
“The Executive’s approach to developing employment legislation is rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding; that the interests of bosses and workers are shared. Workers rights aren’t won through partnership with rotten bosses and a state hell bent on protecting corporate interests. They are won through industrial action and workers’ struggle.”