{"id":3507,"date":"2015-03-30T15:45:13","date_gmt":"2015-03-30T14:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=3507"},"modified":"2015-03-30T15:45:13","modified_gmt":"2015-03-30T14:45:13","slug":"blacklisting-still-going-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=3507","title":{"rendered":"Blacklisting \u00e2\u20ac\u201c still going on?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

A damning new report<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been six years since the Information Commissioner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 \u00c2\u01414,000, are far below what many of the blacklisted workers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c some of whom were unable to find work for decades \u00e2\u20ac\u201c should be entitled to.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The committee report slammed the scheme, calling it \u00e2\u20ac\u015ban act of bad faith\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, and adding that it was \u00e2\u20ac\u015blikely 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.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ongoing?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The greatest concern MPs sitting on the committee expressed was whether the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bodious practice\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 of blacklisting may still be ongoing. The only way to find out, the committee concluded, was to conduct a full public inquiry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail hailed the report, saying its recommendations covered Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s main concerns.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe 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,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe welcome, in particular, the employment of \u00e2\u20ac\u0098blacklisted\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 workers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Cartmail added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is the only \u00e2\u20ac\u0098proof positive\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 that these major contractors are on the road to cleaning up their past dodgy employment practices.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHowever, it is clear from the report that many companies are dragging their feet on the issue of compensation to remedy what the committee calls \u00e2\u20ac\u0098the sins of the past\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhoever is in government after May\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s general election must respond to the repeated call for a full public inquiry into the long-running issue of \u00e2\u20ac\u0098blacklisting\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe 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,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Cartmail concluded.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Labour has pledged to conduct the full public inquiry on blacklisting if it is elected in May.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been six years since the Information Commissioner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Office first discovered a database containing the names of more than 3,000 construction workers. Those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[52,167],"wps_subtitle":"Report finds blacklisted construction workers far from securing justice","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507"}],"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=3507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3509,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507\/revisions\/3509"}],"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=3507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}