Motion no: 2
Conference strongly supports a Good Jobs Bill that would see workers in Northern Ireland benefit from a significant uplift to workers’ rights, including secure contracts, better pay, improved work life balance and stronger trade union rights.
However, progress has stalled and as of mid-2026 draft legislation has still not been published. Conference is concerned that further delay could require the legislative process to restart and see the timeline for implementation slip, meaning uncertainty and limbo for workers in Northern Ireland.
In addition, there remains work to do to ensure that provisions in the Bill apply to all workers in Northern Ireland and do not exclude, for example, agency workers from banded hours contracts.
Conference is clear that workers in Northern Ireland must not be left to fall behind the provisions from Westminster or Leinster House, which are already delivering improvements to workers’ terms and conditions and their livelihoods.
Measures in the Bill must be brought forward as soon as possible to tackle exploitative practices such as fire and rehire and zero and short-hours contracts, strengthen flexible working rights and raise collective voice at work through a right for trade unions to access to workplaces.
Conference calls on the Northern Ireland ICTU to:
- Campaign to raise awareness of the importance of delivering Good Jobs for workers in Northern Ireland.
- Call for banded hours contracts to apply to all workers.
- Put pressure on the Northern Ireland Executive to pass the Good Jobs Bill before the end of the Northern Ireland Assembly mandate in 2027.
