Gerry Murphy: Top 100 Companies reminds us all of what's at stake in Good Jobs Bill

Belfast Telegraph

20-05-2025

We also noticed Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald's comments that the 'work we are taking forward on the Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill is crucial for creating sustainable employment opportunities and boosting the local economy'.
'It will help ensure fair wages, better working conditions and job security for workers.'
We, of course, agree and noted too that most of the companies in the Belfast Telegraph Top 100 are unionised or practicing the kind of good relations and conditions for their employees that the minister aspires to achieve in her Good Jobs Bill.
In short, and despite some scaremongering about the 'cost to business', successful companies have little to fear from having trade unions about the place, or the work-life balance measures coming into law in Great Britain with Labour's Employment Rights Bill and proposed for our devolved 'Good Jobs' legislation.
'Decent work aids retention and loyalty is the reward a respected member of staff extends to a good employer'
Most of the list of NI's most profitable companies recognise trade unions and set terms and conditions for their staff through collective bargaining agreements. These cover substantial numbers of our working population. As Manufacturing NI's Stephen Kelly pointed out 'whilst 1% of manufacturers are large (more than 250 employees), they account for almost half of employment and more than half of turnover' in that sector.
Additionally, many of the companies listed have in their existing employment contracts many of the rights and entitlements proposed for all workers in the Good Jobs Bill, such as family-friendly policies like maternal, parental and bereavement leave.
These companies face no surprises from Dr Archibald's proposals. These proposed policies will only be a concern for a minority of employers who hope for some competitive edge over the many decent bosses at the expense of their workers. But these perceptions get noted, not least by workers who are aware that the grass is often greener with some other, better, boss.
Decent work aids retention and loyalty is the reward a respected member of staff extends to a good employer.
It should also be noted that we have been focused on NI-headquartered companies. And impressive as they are, they are not the only large employers here. Many are international, such as Spirit, Allstate, Citibank, Seagate, Thales and Santander.
Some are based in the Republic, such as Dunnes, Primark, First Trust and Bank of Ireland. More are headquartered in GB, and most of these unionised companies are also preparing for similar changes with the Labour government's Employment Rights Bill, presently at an advanced stage and likely to be in statute within a year. Indeed, many of the aspects proposed in the NI 'Good Jobs' Bill are already in statute in GB.
The Department for the Economy consultation process completed last summer contained 31 proposals. Of these, 19 are proposals that will simply bring NI into line with GB. They are largely uncontroversial and will not pose any significant cost or administrative burden on businesses here. Indeed, most were passed by Conservative governments at Westminster.
The remaining 12 proposals in the proposed NI legislation are currently under active consideration by the Labour Government and ensure that working people in NI will not be left behind again. Polling in GB has shown the Employment Rights Bill to be one of the few widely popular policies of the Starmer administration.
This legislation demonstrates the NI Assembly getting around to (after a few suspensions) using its devolved powers over employment law for the first time since 2016.
So, the proposed Labour Party legislation at Westminster will shortly be, in the employment contracts of GB firms such as Tesco, Concentrix, Bamford Bus Company (Wrightbus), Four Seasons, G4S, Sainsbury's, Boots, PwC, Lloyds, Asda and BT.
This is not intended to sound like an endorsement of all of these employers. Some are hostile to unions and many have been caught up in the wave of industrial action brought on by the cost of living crisis since 2022.
At the same time, those firms which did have disputes all reached resolution because of direct negotiations with the trade unions representing their staff. Most pay issues in the private sector were amicably settled with a great deal less stress than the situation we all experienced here across the public sector under the last belligerent Conservative government.
The Good Jobs bill deserves to be taken to the MLAs we elected in our devolved Assembly, to be debated and discussed, its merits measured and amended if needed by local politicians accountable to an electorate who we firmly believe, support the proposals for better and fairer workplaces.