Member's statement: 'Good Jobs' Bill
Member's statement by Mr Pádraig Delargy on .
- MLA
- Mr Pádraig Delargy
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 1 June 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- 'Good Jobs' Bill
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5580781
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The 'good jobs' Bill is about delivering for all. It is about secure contracts and working hours; ending fire and rehire; introducing day-1 employment rights; fairer pay; a better work-life balance; and enhanced trade union representation. The Minister 's vision is to ensure that the benefits of economic growth are felt by everyone. Research in Ireland and internationally clearly shows the benefits for workers and businesses alike, yet, in characteristically regressive fashion, the DUP seeks to stymie and stifle debate. It seeks to block the opportunity for the House to debate and for the Economy Committee to hear evidence from relevant stakeholders. When many in the DUP sat smirking and sneering, they were sneering at the workers of the North: the teachers, hospital workers, carers, cleaners and bar and restaurant workers for whom they have continuously and consistently failed to stand up. Today, the DUP has proved beyond any reasonable doubt its contempt for workers through its opposition to union organisation and equality and by introducing a Bill to sanction teachers who dare to engage in industrial action. As a former teacher, I will make it abundantly clear that the DUP will not break our teachers or undermine our right to organise and demand better conditions and fairer pay to deliver an education system that treats its staff with respect. The DUP's reality and the reality for ordinary people are very different. Workers and families need the 'good jobs' Bill now more than ever. For ordinary people, the reality is that they are struggling to put food on the table, struggling to heat their homes and struggling with a cost-of-living crisis, and that legislation offers workers some semblance of certainty. Today, the DUP needs to give us and workers the answer to this question: is it blocking the Bill because, as a party, it is anti-worker and anti-trade union, or is it blocking the Bill because it is being taken forward by a Sinn Féin Minister?
The House has the opportunity to deliver historic legislation that will not only align us with elsewhere but make us a world leader in workers' rights legislation. Let us get it done. Let us bring the Bill to the House and deliver for ordinary workers and families.
373 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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