Motion no: 3
Conference notes that manufacturing is a key pillar of our economy, employing one in ten workers with many of those being skilled, unionised jobs.
However, the sector suffers from underinvestment, high energy costs and a long-term lack of ambition from Stormont.
The last year saw the UK government publish a ten-year industrial strategy, but no similar plans have been brought forward in Northern Ireland.
Conference mandates the incoming executive to launch a campaign demanding that Stormont work with trade unions to develop an ambitious strategy for the future of the manufacturing sector.
This strategy must have good jobs at its heart and ensure long-term economic resilience so that workers do not pay the price for a Just Transition, AI or external shocks such as shifts in trade and the global economy.
This strategy must focus on:
- Supporting the growth of advanced manufacturing
- Growing our domestic supply chains
A successful manufacturing strategy will require public investment and funding, including
- Investment in expanded, high-quality apprenticeships and adult retraining
- Seed funding for manufacturing start-ups, with strong conditionality
- Investment in R&D and innovation
- Investment in actions to future-proof the manufacturing sector and our vital energy infrastructure
- Positive public procurement with strong conditionality
Northern Ireland’s workers must no longer be at the mercy of anonymous market forces.
Acquisitions and takeovers must be subject to new rules designed to ensure transparency, protect workers, and mitigate the economic impact of corporate takeovers. This must include:
- The right for a recognised trade union to scrutinise a takeover bid
- Extended consultation periods
- Protections for workers’ terms and conditions
- Guarantees of continuous employment to prevent asset stripping.
Where there is a threat to jobs, skills and critical infrastructure, or a proven strategic imperative, the Department for the Economy must be mandated and funded to intervene to:
- Take a strategic stake in an enterprise
- Take an enterprise fully into public ownership
