While the NI Executive continues to block the Good Jobs Employment Bill, workers across England, Wales and Scotland will soon begin to enjoy many of many of the same provisions contained within that Bill.
Speaking as the Labour government’s Employment Rights Act 2025 begins to take effect across GB, ICTU Assistant General Secretary Gerry Murphy said
While workers’ rights in Northern Ireland are being held to ransom at the NI Executive table, they are already being rolled out across Great Britain. The UK government came to power 6 months after the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive, yet we are told by our political leaders that there isn’t enough time to introduce these rights in here.
We have been also told by our political leaders that new trade union rights contained within the Good Jobs Bill are ‘extreme’ yet workers across the rest of the United Kingdom will be enjoying these very same rights in October.
Good legislation is often complex - that isn’t a reason to block it. There is nothing extreme about enabling workers to access a trade union in their workplace. It is the norm across Europe and it will now be the norm across the rest of the United Kingdom.”
These are the rights being cited by business lobbyists who have succeeded in creating panic and confusion in order stymie progress on the good Jobs Bill. To illustrate how ridiculous this situation is becoming, we need only look at what will happen in October if we do not pass the Good Jobs Bill.
For example, the retail union USDAW is the recognised trade union for workers at Tesco, one of our largest employers. Both that union and that company will observe the new law in England Scotland and Wales, but there will be no obligation to do so here.
The workers’ rights sea border is expanding with every passing month. This is a slap in the face of every worker whatever their political viewpoint.
There must be no sea border for workers’ rights!
