Photo: Simon Chapman
Workers employed by Carillion who were blacklisted after raising safety concerns have protested outside a court in Swansea where the firm is being prosecuted after a site death.
The plea and case management hearing at Swansea Crown Court on 6 September 2012 was in relation to the death of scaffolder Russell Samuel. The father of two, aged 40, suffered massive head injuries on 22 January 2008 after falling 62ft from a skyscraper complex which includes the tallest residential building in Wales.
Febrey Limited, Michael Febrey and Carillion Construction Limited are all charged with criminal breaches of safety law in a case brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The union GMB called the demonstration outside the court.
One of the demonstrators was dressed as a ‘grim reaper’, complete with scythe. Protesters carried placards bearing the words ‘Carillion blacklisted health and safety representatives says GMB’ and ‘Carillion corporate bullying risks death and injuries on sites.’
GMB national officer Justin Bowden said: “This demonstration is to highlight the terrible toll of death and injury in the construction sector and to underline the importance of the proper enforcement of health and safety laws to prevent this carnage. Employers which kill and maim workers are as guilty of a crime as someone who kills or maims while drink-driving.”
He added that Carillion was part of a “blacklisting conspiracy which deprived workers in the sector of jobs even when they raised concerns about the enforcement of basic health and safety and hygiene standards.”
Justin Bowden and GMB Scotland secretary Harry Donaldson gave evidence to the House of Commons’ Scottish Affairs Committee enquiry on blacklisting on 4 September 2012. The union says only 194 of the 3,213 workers on a construction-industry run blacklist exposed by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in 2009 know they were targeted three years on.
The situation is an “indictment” of the ICO, the union said, describing the privacy watchdog’s excuses for not contacting blacklisted workers as “so weak as to be a joke.”
Colin Trousdale, a blacklisted electrician and Unite member from Manchester, told a 27 August protest outside Balfour Beatty’s Glasgow HQ that in 2008 he had taken an Employment Tribunal against the firm. He alleged the company’s human resources director, Gerry Harvey (right), had sent a letter to the court asserting “there is no blacklist, we are not blacklisting you, you are paranoid.”
The Paisley and Renfrewshire North MP (left) said he would lobby government on the issue. “Any contracts from British taxpayers’ money – don’t give them to criminals like Balfour Beatty who are blacklisting people,” he said.
Union says contractor was dumped over safety
A union has warned that targeting unions reps for raising safety concerns could lead to tragedy on a London site. The comments from Unite came as union members protested outside a west London Crossrail site at the dismissal of 28 workers, allegedly for raising health and safety concerns.
The workers employed by contractor EIS lost their jobs last week when the firm’s Crossrail contract was terminated. They claim EIS was taken off the job by the Bam Ferrovial Kier (BFK) consortium – which won the bid to build the Crossrail tunnels – after its workers raised safety concerns.
Unite London regional construction officer Harry Cowap told the Morning Star that the attack on health and safety and unionised workers could lead to a “major catastrophe” on the site. “Management refused to speak to me today because they felt ‘under duress’,” he said. “How must the men and women feel who lost their jobs?”
The union believes Unite safety rep Rodney Valentine was removed from the site immediately after he was elected and was subsequently moved, suspended and dismissed. It adds that shop steward Frank Morris was banned from the site after raising concerns over dangerous cables in the tunnels. Unite’s Harry Cowap commented: “They have terminated the EIS contract purely to remove the shop steward and safety rep.”
Crossrail challenged the union’s claims saying the contract with EIS had run its course. A spokesperson said: “Crossrail regards the safety of all those working on the Crossrail project as paramount and is committed to delivering Crossrail to the highest standards of safety at all times.”
The grassroots Site Worker group, though, sees it differently. Its organising flyer (reproduced in full below) claims: “Crossrail is going to be one of the largest infrastructure jobs in the whole of Western Europe – if it is unionised, the workforce will earn good wages and the job will be safe. This is a deliberate attempt by BFK to intimidate workers and keep the union off the project, so they can keep wages down and force through rushed production targets.”
It concludes: “This is a dispute about safety and money. Even the EIS electrical engineer was sacked after he took a photograph of unsafe high voltage electrical cables. BFK are making money by playing with our lives.”
Site Worker flyer
SACKED FOR JOINING A UNION
28 workers including a UNITE steward and safety rep have been dismissed from the Crossrail project because of they are members of a trade union. The unionised workers employed by E.I.S. Electrical were searched and removed from site last Friday at the instruction of Bam Ferrovial Kier (BFK), the consortium of contractors building Crossrail.
Crossrail is going to be one of the largest infrastructure jobs in the whole of Western Europe – if it is unionised, the workforce will earn good wages and the job will be safe. This is a deliberate attempt by BFK to intimidate workers and keep the union off the project, so they can keep wages down and force through rushed production targets.
Whatever nonsense BFK come up with to justify the dismissals, everyone knows there are 3-4 years work left on the project for these sparks alone. But as soon as the union appeared on the job, the steward was banned from the tunnel and forced to sit in the site offices at Westbourne Park for weeks on end. The Safety Rep was suspended and left to sit at home for the past 13 weeks. Eventually BFK threw EIS off the job just to get rid of the union.
The Managing Director of E.I.S. has given the union a witness statement and states that the only reason the workers and the reps have been removed from the job is because of the union presence.
This is a dispute about safety and money. Even the EIS electrical engineer was sacked after he took a photograph of unsafe high voltage electrical cables. BFK are making money by playing with our lives.
BFK want to save money on Crossrail
We want to save lives on Crossrail
BAM and Kier (part of the BFK consortium) are proven blacklisters of trade union members. They were part of the Consulting Association blacklisting conspiracy exposed in 2009. There is documentary evidence that their senior managers and Directors have illegally victimised union members. We know exactly what they’ve been up to – We’re not going to stand for it on Crossrail. The sparks won their fight against BESNA pay cuts – The rank & file will win the fight for Crossrail.
Site Worker