6th UNI Europa Conference - 26 March 2025

Note: this publication may not reflect verbatim delivery by Minister Archibald

Good afternoon, everyone.

I’m delighted that this conference has come to Belfast; bringing together the labour movement and international advocates for workers and for social justice.

Strong labour movements and international solidarity are more important than ever in this time of global upheaval.

I want to echo the remarks of our First Minister when she opened the conference yesterday, and express my solidarity with the people of Palestine.

We must use our voices to demand an end to the horrific genocide, and the negotiation of a lasting peace in the region.

The north of Ireland has benefited greatly from peace and from the leadership shown by the international community in bringing an end to the conflict.

Having delivered the peace process we are now delivering a prosperity process, and Trade Unions have a key role to play that regard.

A key measure of an economy’s success is the extent to which it provides workers and their families with a decent income and good quality of life.

That is why Good Jobs is one of my four interlinked objectives, alongside productivity, regional balance, and Net Zero.

External advisors have been appointed for each of these objectives.

Dr. Lisa Wilson from the Nevin Institute is the Good Jobs advisor.

She is in attendance today so I’d like to acknowledge and thank Lisa for her contribution to this important work.

Under Lisa’s guidance my Department has adopted the Carnegie Framework which identifies seven elements of a Good Job.

• Terms of Employment
• Pay and benefits
• Health and safety
• Job design
• Social support
• Voice and representation
• And work-life balance

As part of this agenda my Department is working to remove barriers for people who are out of work.

We are investing in skills and encouraging employers to remove any barriers they create, such as a lack of flexible working or including unnecessary criteria as part of the recruitment process.

We are developing the social economy, which is often more willing to recruit people who face additional barriers.

And we are encouraging companies to become accredited as Living Wage employers.

But my flagship policy is a new Employment Act.

Last year we completed an extensive consultation.

Our consultation sought views on lowering the threshold for statutory trade union recognition.

It also sought views on simplifying rules on balloting for industrial action, better trade union access to workplaces, and the creation of a new collective bargaining framework.

One of the reasons for these proposals is that workforces that are listened to and respected will be more productive, and this in turn can lead to better pay.

This logic is reflected in the theme of this year’s conference, ‘Real Say, More Pay: Moving Forward with Collective Bargaining’.

So I think you have chosen the right place for your conference!

Thank you so much for inviting me to be part of it and to speak about what we are doing in this part of the world.

I am looking forward to receiving a read out of this conference so that we can learn more about what is happening elsewhere and factor that into our work.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir. Thank you.