Rally at the steps of Parliament Buildings, Stormont Estate
12 Noon, 18 May 2026
The Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions invite you to a press event at the steps of Parliament Buildings next Monday.
The ‘Good Jobs’ Employment Bill is at the NI Executive for discussion before passing onto our MLAs for First Reading in the NI Assembly.
Speaking ahead of the event, ICTU Assistant General Secretary Gerry Murphy said:
NIC-ICTU is calling on all Executive Ministers to bring forward the legislation without further delay, so MLAs can debate the merits of the Bill in the public arena of the Assembly chamber.
Over the past two years, trade unions have had many conversations with MLAs individually and also with the party spokespeople on the Economy. From our perspective, these were constructive, informative and on the whole positive discussions, clouded by the knowledge gap of the bill not being in the public domain. What we do know about the Bill is what was outlined in April 2025 in the Department for the Economy’s ‘Way Forward’ document.
During the period since, we have also engaged regularly with the Department for the Economy, alongside employer representatives, through consultation events, meetings, expert panels and other stakeholder forums on the proposed direction of employment law reform.
Note also the recent LucidTalk poll which found clear support for measures revealed in the Way Forward document from voters for all NI Assembly parties. What needs to happen next is twofold:
- The Bill needs to be approved by the NI Executive and submitted to the Speaker for introduction to the Assembly before the summer recess.
- An informed debate on the content of the Bill in Stormont and beyond needs to begin, now.
There is plenty of time for the Bill to pass all of the legislative stages. The Assembly has unique devolved powers over employment law which are not available in Holyrood or the Welsh Senedd. What is required is the will of the Assembly to complete this essential upgrade to employment law here.
Unions are inviting each party’s Economy Spokesperson to briefly speak on their view of the bill and the concept of ‘Good Jobs’.
