‘We don’t know what’s going on’

The implosion of Carillion sent shockwaves across the country today, as thousands of workers waited anxiously to hear about the future of their jobs.

Hundreds of social housing workers in Northern Ireland were sent home this morning following news of the construction giant’s collapse.

Maintenance subcontractors in Teeside were also told to return home until further notice, while work on Liverpool’s new Royal Hospital ground to a halt and fuel cards issued to Carillion staff stopped working.

Unite organised an impromptu mass meeting for its Northern Ireland Carillion members after they were told to go home, despite assurances from government that the failed building group’s services would continue.

“It is clear that despite those assurances from the Housing Executive we are facing the threat of large-scale redundancy,” said Northern Ireland regional secretary Jackie Pollock.

“Unite is demanding that the Housing Executive follow through on their promises to our union. To that end we are demanding that all workers, including those employed through agencies, need to be provided with immediate and secure public sector employment through the Direct Labour Organisation (DLO).”

Work on Liverpool’s Royal Hospital was also disrupted following this morning’s news that Carillion has gone into liquidation.

UniteLive understands that assurances have been given that the construction of the Royal, along with Midland Metropolitan Hospital in Smethwick, will continue and that staff working on the projects will remain on site.

However, the outlook for Carillion sub-contractors working on private sector projects is less positive.

Unite regional officer for the North West, John Sheppard said, “Carillion have quite a big presence on private sites in the North West. There’s no safety net for the private sector contracts and the danger is they will cease and people, including Unite members, won’t get paid.

“That’s why there needs to be protection for workers being left high and dry by this. The headline is 20,000 directly employed people, but the ripple effect will run into tens of thousands.”

In the North East, Teeside workers contracted by Carillion to maintain schools, hospitals and fire stations were told to go home until further notice.

“It’s shocking, everyone has bills to pay and we don’t know what’s going on,” a Carillion subcontractor from Teeside said.