A political standoff over Northern Ireland’s flagship employment law reform escalated on Monday as Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly offered to support the legislation only if contentious trade union access clauses were removed.

Little-Pengelly told the Assembly the proposed Good Jobs Bill was unsupported by the business community and that its union access provisions would be among the most expansive in Europe. She said she would back the bill if it were split to exclude the new trade union rights.

Sinn Féin Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald said the bill delivers important protections for all workers, including those on zero-hours contracts, carers, and parents of premature babies, and she would not leave anyone behind.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions said the DUP’s stance was alarming and would undermine workers’ faith in devolved institutions if key provisions were removed without evidence. ICTU chair Gerry Murphy argued that workers’ rights would be unenforceable without union access to workplaces.

DUP figures separately called for neonatal care leave provisions to be advanced in a standalone bill, noting the policy has been available in Great Britain since April 2025 and commands cross-party support. Party leader Gavin Robinson said accelerated passage could deliver help to families without waiting for the wider bill’s scrutiny.

Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Deborah Erskine accused the minister of using neonatal leave as a political wedge, linking it to the broader bill despite repeated delays in bringing the legislation forward.

Under the proposed bill, unions would gain a right to request access to workplaces for recruitment and representation. Employers would not be permitted to unreasonably refuse, extending a right currently limited mainly to already recognised workplaces.

The bill has yet to secure Executive approval and has been delayed for more than a year.