Blacklisting – still going on?

A damning new report by the Scottish Affairs Committee (SAC) published on Friday (March 27), found that construction companies involved in the blacklisting scandal have hardly atoned for their sins.

It’s been six years since the Information Commissioner’s Office first discovered a database containing the names of more than 3,000 construction workers. Those on the list would find themselves secretly barred from finding work anywhere in their field for reasons such as being a trade union member or raising a health and safety concern.

Since then, a compensation scheme was set up by 8 of the 30 companies who were caught using the blacklist to bar workers from employment, but the SAC report is scathing in its criticism of how little the scheme has done to secure the blacklisted workers justice.

The companies which set up the scheme claimed that it was agreed to by unions, when in fact, it was not. Thus far, only 149 workers have received any compensation. Compensation levels, which start at just £4,000, are far below what many of the blacklisted workers – some of whom were unable to find work for decades – should be entitled to.

The committee report slammed the scheme, calling it “an act of bad faith”, and adding that it was “likely to be motivated by a desire to minimise financial and reputational damage rather than being a genuine attempt to address the crimes of the past.”

The report concluded that much more was needed to be done to both redress the blacklisted workers and make sure it never happens again. The committee recommended that the companies involved put greater effort into contacting all workers on the list, including family members if the workers may now be deceased.

Ongoing?

The greatest concern MPs sitting on the committee expressed was whether the “odious practice” of blacklisting may still be ongoing. The only way to find out, the committee concluded, was to conduct a full public inquiry.

Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail hailed the report, saying its recommendations covered Unite’s main concerns.

“The report by the Scottish Affairs Committee is a damning indictment of the underhand and cruel tactics that the construction industry employed against decent workers prepared to stand up and be counted on such issues as health and safety,” she said.

“We welcome, in particular, the employment of ‘blacklisted’ workers,” Cartmail added. “This is the only ‘proof positive’ that these major contractors are on the road to cleaning up their past dodgy employment practices.

“However, it is clear from the report that many companies are dragging their feet on the issue of compensation to remedy what the committee calls ‘the sins of the past’.

“Whoever is in government after May’s general election must respond to the repeated call for a full public inquiry into the long-running issue of ‘blacklisting’.

“The Scottish Affairs Committee, as a whole, and its chair Ian Davidson have shone a light on this murky world of blacklisting. We are indebted to them for their work and dedication in seeking out truth and justice,” Cartmail concluded.

Labour has pledged to conduct the full public inquiry on blacklisting if it is elected in May.