Motion no: 18
Conference condemns the continued casualisation of labour with ever increasing use of short term, causal, zero hours contracts etc. creating insecure work and mass under employment.
Conference notes that workers on these contracts are not afforded the same protections under employment law as those deemed “employees” creating a disparity in the treatment of workers due to employment “status” and a divisive hierarchy of worker in the workplace. This in turn creates difficulties for unions trying to organise workplaces where the majority of staff are deemed workers and do not have day 1 rights which leaves employers free to treat staff abysmally and hire and fire at will.
Conference acknowledges the success of ICTU and their affiliates political lobbying to prevent the introduction of the Tory Trade Union Bill and Tory reforms to Tribunals, which demonstrates the power our movement has to affect change. We must use this power now to force the NI Assembly to change employment law, to remove the concept of employment status from legislation to ensure that all workers have the same rights and further that those rights are enhanced by the repeal of the existent anti-trade union legislation.
Conference call on the NIC to:
- Work with affiliates to campaign and lobby for a change in NI employment law to give all workers parity of protections, removing the “employment status” from the legislation
- To make zero hours and casual contracts unlawful
- To campaign and lobby for the repeal of current anti- trade union legislation.
