WHAT if Stormont’s Good Jobs Bill is a bigger issue for the public sector than for the private sector?

In an open letter this week, 22 business groups have asked the Executive not to rush the Bill through before the next election.

They reiterated that they support much of the proposed legislation, being brought by Sinn Féin minister Caoimhe Archibald.

Although a text of the new law has yet to published, business groups have largely accepted what it is believed to contain on zero hours contracts, flexible working, sick pay, tips, protection from unfair dismissal and other headline items.

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However, they want more thought put into the additional costs it will impose as they struggle with rising prices and taxes.

Youth unemployment, derelict high streets and the accelerating failure of hospitality businesses show these concerns are reasonable, even if they turn out to be unwarranted.

Business groups are most concerned about an aspect of the Bill known as Voice and Representation, which aims to reduce barriers to trade union activity.

The proposal that has caused most alarm is to give unions a right to request access to workplaces where they are not currently represented, so they can try to recruit........

© The Irish News