Construction blacklisting’ victory sees £10 million pay-out to 256 workers

Young Workers May 11 2016

The long-awaited High Courttrial centred on blacklisting of trade unionists in the construction and other trades was settled on 9 May followinglast minute increased compensation offers by the 8 major construction companiesat the heart of the scandal. Additional offers were made to blacklisted workers represented by Unite the Union late on Friday 6 May. Ahastily called hearingtakes place, today, 11th May, at which ahumiliating public apology and admissions about the firms’involvement in the Consulting Association secretconspiracyis to be read out in open court.

The total figure for compensation paid out by the blacklisting firms is estimated at £50million with an additional £200 million worth of legal costs for the different legal teams involved. The defendants are:Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and VINCI – No doubt shareholders and non-executive directors will be asking questions about thoseresponsiblefor this big hit to the bottom line.

CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said this latest settlement for blacklisted workers in the construction industry is a long overdue victory for workers who had their lives ruined, in many cases simply because they raised concerns over safety at work. Blacklisting is another example of some businesses refusing to see trade unions and workers as having a right to any sort of voice – it is further evidence of the need for us to change the balance of forces in our society and deliver a new political settlement in this country.

Compensation is just one element of what workers in the construction industry now need to see. There must be a full public inquiry and there have to be criminal penalties for the blacklisting of workers to stop it from ever happening again.”

The CWU’s good friend and secretary of the Blacklist Support Group, Dave Smith commented: Despite all of thedenials and attempts to cover up their secretconspiracy, thelargest multinationals in the construction sector have been forced to pay out millions in compensation.Make no mistake, the High Court actionis a historic victory for the trade union movement against the viciousface of free marketcapitalism.

The blacklist firmsmight have hoped that by buying their way out of a showtrial that the scandal that has disgraced anentire industry will go away: itwon’t.Blacklisting is a human rights conspiracy against trade unionism bybig business and shady anti-democraticpolitical policing units within the British state.

These fat cats and their friends in the police took food off of our children’s table,causingyears of family hardship. We take this personally. A few quid and a mealy mouthed apology is a long way fromjustice. We intend to continue our fight to exposethose who orchestrated and colluded with blacklisting. In anycivilizedsociety, the wretches would be in jail by now.

Blacklist Support Group would like to pay tribute to all the legal teams who have taken us this far, especially Guney Clark & Ryan solicitors who have been working withussince the blacklist was discoveredin 2009. Without the ground breaking work by GCR, there would neverhave been anyHigh Court litigation at all”.

Unite the union, said that the pay-outs could range from £25,000 up to £200,000 per claimant, depending on such factors asthe loss of income and the seriousness of the defamation. Last week’s action resulted in a further £4 million for 97 of the 256 claimants, whose original compensation offers the union deemed inadequate. This brought the total compensation package to £10,435,000.

At the centre of the scandal were themachinations of the secretive Consulting Association which was raidedby the Information Commissioner in 2009.

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said:”The massive scale of the agreed damages – more than £10 million – shows the gravity of the misdeeds of these major construction companies which created and used the Consulting Group as a vehicle to enable them to blacklist trade unionists on behalf of more than 30 construction companies.

“The sums to be paid out go a considerable way to acknowledge the hurt, suffering and loss of income our members and their families have been through over many years. Under the agreement they can once more apply for jobs in the construction industry without fear of discrimination.

‘This settlement is a clear statement on behalf of the trade union movement that never again can such nefarious activities be allowed to happen against decent working people trying to earn an honest living in a tough industry. The message is clear that there can never be any hiding place for bosses in the construction and any other industry thinking of reverting to shameful blacklisting practices against committed trade unionists.”

Unite director of legal services Howard Beckett said:“What remains outstanding from the agreement is the legislative definition of blacklisting, as outlined in the Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklisting) Regulations 2010.

“We view the secret vetting operation carried out by the Consulting Association as a blacklist, and hence in contravention of the Act. This is the core reason as to why these companies should be answerable to a public inquiry and why the Westminster and the devolved governments should continue to ask serious questions of these companies before they are engaged for public contracts.

“Finally, Unite would like to thank its legal team – Anthony Hudson QC at Matrix; Ben Cooper, counsel at Old Square and Richard Arthur and his team at Thompsons Solicitors – who stood should to shoulder with the trade union movement during this lengthy – and ultimately victorious – landmark case.”

The case centred on a number of key legal issues, including defamation, breaches of the 1988 Data Protection Act, conspiracy and misuse of private information.

Listen to a podcast with CWU Youth talking to Dave Smith of The Blacklist Support Group about their tireless campaign.

The Blacklist Support Group will also be hosting a workshop at this year’s CWU National Youth Education Event in Sheffield in October. For more information on this please visit here