{"id":13181,"date":"2017-09-05T16:32:51","date_gmt":"2017-09-05T15:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=13181"},"modified":"2017-09-06T12:07:54","modified_gmt":"2017-09-06T11:07:54","slug":"blacklisting-still-happening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=13181","title":{"rendered":"Blacklisting still happening"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The blacklisting scandal first revealed in 2009<\/a>, when it was discovered that thousands of construction workers were denied jobs, some for decades, because of trade union involvement, is far from over.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Despite legislation that has made blacklisting illegal in the wake of that scandal, damning new evidence provided by Unite shows the practice is alive and well \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and that a full public inquiry is needed now more than ever.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Labour MP Chuka Umunna presented the evidence at a parliamentary Westminster Hall debate today (September 5) as he called for blacklisting companies to be brought to justice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Despite Unite and other unions securing millions in compensation <\/a>for workers who were systematically denied work for being trade union members or raising health and safety issues, construction workers are still at risk, and some of the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s biggest construction companies have not learned their lesson.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Crossrail<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Umunna highlighted compelling evidence of blacklisting still happening in the publicly funded Crossrail project.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The first case, Umunna noted, concerns emails that were circulated between contractors and the employee relations department at Crossrail which detail surveillance of workers that took place at a peaceful demonstration at a Crossrail site in 2016.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bA number of construction workers were being closely watched there and sensitive personal information was being collected in relation to them,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Umunna said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTwo of the workers concerned who were subject to that surveillance have since sought to obtain further employment on Crossrail and did so through agencies advertising positions. However as soon as they relayed their names there was a delay and then they were subsequently given an excuse as to why the positions have been filled.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite has also sent information to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), concerning the way in which the publicly funded Crossrail project disseminates information of anyone demonstrating outside of their sites.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The ICO has said the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bcollection of this type of data is potentially excessive\u00e2\u20ac\u0165. In the view of the ICO \u00e2\u20ac\u015bit raises the possibility that surveillance is being undertaken without appropriate checks and balances in place.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It has even been alleged that one Crossrail sub-contractor actually told Unite that the consequences of him employing a Unite member would be the refusal of future work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd for obvious reasons the sub-contractor does not wish to disclose their identity,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Umunna said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Umunna raised a second case of an electrician who has been seeking work in the industry since raising a grievance while working on Crossrail.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHe has since applied for hundreds of job vacancies almost always being turned down,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Umunna noted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The worker then formally asked Crossrail for the information being held about him in a subject action request under the Data Protection Act.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was then revealed that Crossrail and three of its contractors were exchanging sensitive personal data concerning this individual\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s previous employment, and the issues and grievances he had raised there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOn the face of it the data appears to be processed for the purpose of determining the individual\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s suitability for employment related to his trade union activities,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Umunna said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe very strong inference from the documents is that some kind of vetting operation was in operation between Crossrail, its contractors and the agencies involved.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Public inquiry call<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Umunna also pointed out the absurdity of construction firm Sir Robert McAlpine \u00e2\u20ac\u201c whose director and head of HR both played a central role in funding, compiling and maintaining the historic blacklist that ruined so many lives \u00e2\u20ac\u201c now being in charge of fixing Big Ben\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bongs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Conservative government, though on the surface denouncing blacklisting, has long voiced opposition to the full public inquiry that both Unite and Labour have called for.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This opposition continues as business minister Margot James said today at the debate that the government still sees no need for a full investigation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c even as the evidence is mounting that the practice goes in publicly funded projects.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Umunna demanded that the business minister think again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand what it is that the government is afraid of,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Umunna said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf it exposes embarrassing things for people politically that happened in the past \u00e2\u20ac\u201c so what? Surely justice is the key here.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other Labour MPs joined Umunna\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s call for a full public inquiry, for blacklisting to carry criminal sanctions and for the government to deny public contracts to firms involved or suspected of being involved in blacklisting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail reiterated the call for immediate action.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bContemporary blacklisting is occurring in construction,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe companies concerned have learned nothing from the Consulting Association scandal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bCrossrail and its major contractors have been caught red-handed blacklisting workers. This is a publicly funded project and the government can no longer pretend this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happening. They have always claimed they are opposed to blacklisting, now is their opportunity to act.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWorkers are continuing to have their lives ruined simply for being a member of a union, standing up for their rights or raising safety concerns,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Cartmail added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe companies concerned believe that they are untouchable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bConstruction will only finally rid itself of the stench of blacklisting when effective laws are introduced which bar blacklisters from public sector contracts, and effective anti-blacklisting laws are introduced which make it a criminal offence and there is a full public inquiry into the practice.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do you believe that you may be a victim of blacklisting? Find out how Unite can help here.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The blacklisting scandal first revealed in 2009, when it was discovered that thousands of construction workers were denied jobs, some for decades, because of trade union involvement, is far from over.   Despite legislation that has made blacklisting illegal in the wake of that scandal, damning new evidence provided by Unite shows the practice is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[52],"wps_subtitle":"Unite reiterates inquiry call as new evidence revealed","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13181"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13181"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13182,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13181\/revisions\/13182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}