Blacklist blog

A rigorous examination of blacklisting cannot be tacked onto a party political inquiry set up to help the Conservative Party bash unions, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady has said. She was speaking after deputy prime minister Nick Clegg said a government review of industrial relations announced last week can be extended to include blacklisting of union activists by employers.

The review’s terms of reference make no explicit reference to blacklisting but both coalition parties said the issue could be addressed since the review will look at “existing legislation to prevent inappropriate or intimidatory actions in trade disputes.”

The government kicked off the review in response to Unite’s highly effective use of ‘leverage’ techniques to get companies to take safety and other union concerns more seriously, making no reference at all to blacklisting at the time. Unite’s smart organising methods, which include demonstrations outside the homes and offices of company directors and targeting shareholders and the wider supply chain, were used to startling effect in the recent Crossrail blacklisting dispute. Electrician Frank Morris was reinstated in September, a year after the union says he was fired for his trade union activity and safety whistleblowing.

Unions say feigning concern about blacklisting when the real objective is a bout of old-fashioned union-bashing is unacceptable. TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady told a 20 November union lobby of parliament on blacklisting: “Blacklisting is real. It has ruined thousands of lives. Families are still suffering because a worker joined a union or raised a health and safety issue.

“We need a full inquiry into its scope. It must have the legal power to call witnesses, seize records and put employers on the spot. Companies guilty of blacklisting should be barred from public contracts until they can demonstrate that they understand the basics of human rights and good industrial relations.

“Blacklisting cannot be tacked onto the government inquiry set up purely to devise laws to limit union campaigning. The inquiry is a cheap electoral stunt set up in response to a non-existent problem, a taxpayer-funded initiative devised to generate a union-bashing headline or two for the Conservative election campaign. Everyone knows that we already have the most restrictive laws on unions in any advanced democracy.”

The Blacklist Support Group also rejected the government move. A spokesperson told The Industrial Reporter: “The Tory proposals are nothing more than an anti-union witch hunt masquerading as an inquiry. To equate the blacklist scandal with unites leverage campaign exposes the government’s entire attitude towards organised labour.

“Blacklisting is a human rights conspiracy involving multinational firms and the state. Leverage is perfectly legal protest with an inflatable rat.”

The Guardian reported that Nick Clegg’s remarks suggest the Liberal Democrats are anxious to rebut claims that they have been drawn into a union bashing exercise constructed by the Conservatives. The 20 November TUC-called Day of Action on Blacklisting, which was backed by unions and the Blacklist Support Group, saw hundreds of events and protests organised nationwide.

The Blacklist Support Group (BSG) is calling on all supporters, Trades Councils and trade union branches to organise an event in your area for the TUC Day of Action on Blacklisting.The nationwide event will take place on 20 November.

BSG suggests groups should protest outside a building site being run by a blacklisting company or should  target a public body still using blacklisting firms to provide public services. This is an official TUC sponsored Day of Action, so all unions in an area should work together to coordinate action.

Whether it is a protest, a media event or direct action please take pix and post on social media and contact the local press to ensure the story runs everywhere.

Use the hashtags #blacklisting #N20 #BSG

Ideas to maximise the chances of getting media coverage:
Blacklisted T-shirts, banners, placards, PA (play some music not just speakers on a megaphone), hand in a giant oversized protest letter, inflatable rat, it’s just been firework night so make a guy in a suit with a Cullum McAlpine face mask, blacklisted workers have been locked out of work so a big padlock & chain might come in handy. Whatever you do – make it visual.

PLANNED EVENTS

London
7:00am – Protest at Laing O’Rourke, Cheesegrater, Leadenhall St, City of London (opposite Lloyds Building)

10:00am – Protest at Laing O’Rourke, Francis Crick Medical Research Centre, Kings Cross (behind the British Library)

1:00pm – TUC protest with MPs & 4 union General Secretaries, College Green, Parliament Sq, Westminster

2:00pm – TUC Lobby of MPs, House of Commons

3:30pm – House of Commons Committee Room 11 – John McDonnell MP chairs BSG meeting speakers: Sean Curran (GCR solicitors for High court claim) & blacklisted workers.

Edinburgh
12:00pm – STUC protest outside Holyrood

1:00pm – film show inside Holyrood organised by Neil Findlay MSP

transport from Glasgow via:  vicki.thomson@unitetheunion.com

Cardiff
12:00 WTUC event – Senedd media briefing room. Speakers include Andy Richards Unite, Nick Blundell UCATT, Martin Hird GMB and Jane Hutt the finance minister.

Anyone wishing to attend contact: ghathway@tuc.org.uk

Manchester
7:15am – Manchester Town Hall protest against NG Bailey – organised by BSG – speakers include blacklisted workers: Graham Bowker, Colin Trousdale, George Tapp

There are also a number of direct action events taking place across the country. Send us the details of your event and we will update this list to maximise a turnout at every protest.

UPDATE

UCATT co-ordinated/promoted 20 November events in:
Newcastle, Manchester, London, Leeds, Eastern England, Cardiff, Birmingham and Edinburgh.

The first talks to take place between blacklisted workers and representatives of the blacklist compensation scheme have ended in acrimony as the delegation from the Blacklist Support Group walked out of the meeting in disgust at what they described as “piss take” proposals.

The Blacklist Support Group delegation, made up exclusively of blacklisted workers, Dave Smith, Steve Kelly and Roy Bentham, met with three representatives of the blacklist compensation scheme: John Taylor, the ex-chief executive of ACAS; Richard Slaven, a partner at Pinsent Mason solicitors; and Daryl Taylor. The meeting at the offices of Pinsent Masons solicitors in the City of London ended in acrimony when the delegation of blacklisted workers walked out following blunt exchanges.

Roy Bentham, blacklisted joiner from Liverpool and UCATT member, said: “These are not proposals designed for genuine negotiations. It is a piss take masquerading as a publicity stunt. We were not prepared to continue with the charade.

“The blacklist compensation scheme press release claims they are making this offer because of their altruistic concerns for blacklisted workers. If the firms have really turned over a new leaf, they can prove it by offering jobs to blacklisted workers on Crossrail and other major construction projects.

“Blacklisting breached our human rights, forced us into years of unemployment and made our families suffer financially. Why is a celebrity whose phone has been hacked, worth so much more than the human rights of a building worker?

“If there was any justice in the world, the directors implicated should be on their knees begging our forgiveness. We will settle for offers of employment, full compensation and a public inquiry into this squalid conspiracy.

“These blacklisting wretches have the brass neck to offer us a thousand pounds in compensation. They can shove their grand, right up their profit margin.”

The Blacklist Support Group (BSG) is targeting Laing O’Rourke at the Cheesegrater construction project as part of the TUC Day of Action on blacklisting.

Assemble 7am – Wednesday 20th November Laing O’Rourke
Cheesegrater
Leadenhall Street
City of London
(Nearest tube: Liverpool Street)

One of the most high profile building sites in the UK is being targeted because Laing O’Rourke and their wholly owned electrical subsidiary Crown House are both proven subscribers to the Consulting Association blacklist.

Laing O’Rourke are a defendant in the High Court claim being brought by Guney Clark & Ryan solicitors on behalf of blacklisted workers and supported by the Blacklist Support Group.

Crown House was one of the major electrical contractors that attempted to cut electricians wage rates by 35 per cent when they pulled out of the JIB national agreement during the failed BESNA fiasco in 2012.

Organise transport – Bring your banners- let’s make this one a major set piece in the battle against the blacklist. Spread the word – splash it all over social media.

This is an official TUC Day of Action on blacklisting – we need to mobilise to make sure the blacklisting firms get the message.

•             Own Up! Clean Up! Pay Up!

•             Jobs for blacklisted workers

•             Fully independent public inquiry

•             No public contracts for blacklisting firms

Blacklist Support Group news release

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has confirmed it holds documents relating to another blacklist in the construction industry. The confirmation came in a letter from ICO Deputy Commissioner David Smith to Ian Davidson MP, chair of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee investigation into blacklisting.

The letter states that the ICO holds information including “faxes to and from Hayden Young Limited which contain the names of what appear to be individual construction workers and their NI numbers, a list of nine contact names and addresses of what appear to be individual managers within different construction companies and a small sample of names and national insurance numbers of individual construction workers on what are termed the Pfizers, Royal Opera House and Jubilee Line lists.”

The possible existence of this new blacklist, separate to The Consulting Association list, was originally raised by whistleblower Alan Wainwright during evidence to the Scottish Affairs Select Committee in November 2012. Wainwright is an ex-senior manager at Hayden Young (now Balfour Beatty Engineering Services), Carillion and EMCOR (Drake and Sculls).

He told MPs a list of names and personal details of 500 workers from three major projects – Pfizers (in Kent), the Royal Opera House and the Jubilee Line – had been circulated to a group of senior labour managers in August 2000 by the then personnel director of Emcor, Sheila Knight.

Prior to working for EMCOR, Sheila Knight was deputy director of the conciliation service ACAS. She currently acts as a consultant providing expert advice and teaching workshops for human resources managers.

This letter to Ian Davidson MP is the first time that the ICO has confirmed that the Sheila Knight blacklist exists. Alongside the Economic League and The Consulting Association blacklists, the Sheila Knight blacklist is now the third blacklist confirmed to exist in the construction industry.

The name and personal details of Frank Morris, the Unite shop steward at the centre of the year-long Crossrail blacklisting dispute appears on this newly discovered blacklist as he was apprentice for Drake and Sculls (Emcor) on the Jubilee Line Extension when Sheila Knight was head of personnel at the company. The Blacklist Support Group believes it is information from this blacklist that was used to remove Frank Morris from the Crossrail project back in September 2012.

ICO Deputy Director David Smith gave evidence to the Select Committee investigation in October 2012 and admitted that the organisation only seized 5 per cent of the paperwork in The Consulting Association office.

Given that the ICO failed to tell MPs that they held this additional blacklist and also failed to mention that they held documents proving that senior police officers attended the secret blacklist meetings of The Consulting Association, the Blacklist Support Group questions whether the ICO is the correct organisation to be carrying out any further investigations into blacklisting and are calling for a fully independent public inquiry.

Quotes from blacklisted workers:

Jill Fisher – one of the few female construction workers on the blacklist

“I was in my early twenties and had just finished my apprenticeship when I worked at the a Royal Opera House. I had virtually nothing to do with the union but was dismissed for no fault of my own. It was the start of the building boom but I found it impossible to get a decent job. In the end it took me years, besides hard work and a lot of money to retrain as an engineer.

“I have now found out that my name is on two blacklists which were circulated among the senior HR managers of all the big electrical firms. Is it any wonder I couldn’t find a job? These people tried to sabotage my working life and deserve to be punished for their actions.”

Steve Kelly – co-chair of the Blacklist Support Group (BSG) – blacklisted electrician and shop steward on the Jubilee Line Extension

“How much more do building workers have to suffer? We now hear that there were three blacklists in total and many of us are on all of them: this is outrageous!

“Blacklisted three times; more personal information, more spying, more police collusion, more investigating us and our families. Where will this all end?

“Maybe we should sling in the towel and declare ourselves unemployable for the next 20 years til we retire! The damage caused, stress on our families gets worse by the day. Enough is enough, no more pussy footing around, we demand a public inquiry now! We demand jobs on building sites!”

Steve Acheson – co-chair of the BSG – blacklisted electrician – who won an Employment Tribunal because of his unfair dismissal for health and safety reasons on the Pfizers project in Kent

“Along with 240 other workers, I was sacked and placed on a blacklist for raising health and safety concerns at Pfizers in 2000. The ensuing years my family life was wrecked. Those wretches who conspired against so many thousands of decent workers scandalised our industry with their hypocrisy towards real health and safety and their belated disingenuous apology is merely a means of self preservation. If there be any justice in the world, each and every conspirator should receive a custodial sentence.”

Blacklist Support Group news release
10 October 2013

The biggest blacklisting firms have today announced the proposal for an industry funded compensation scheme. In a press release today Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska and Vinci “all apologise for their involvement with the Consulting Association and the impact its database may have had on any individual construction worker”. The proposed scheme is being fronted by John Taylor, who was Chief Executive of ACAS until January 2013.

The Blacklist Support Group issued the following statement:

“Blacklisted workers obviously welcome the announcement of an industry funded compensation scheme for those they deliberately victimised as part of the Consulting Association blacklisting conspiracy. But so far there are no firm proposals, only a vague promise of compensation for any workers with a ‘legitimate claim’.

“We want every single person who is on the Consulting Association blacklist to be compensated and jobs guaranteed for blacklisted workers on major construction projects. The Blacklist Support Group looks forward to participating in the negotiations about the details of the scheme.

“But forgive us if we do not crack open the champagne just yet. We do not for one second believe that these companies have suddenly seen the light. Most of the senior managers implicated in the blacklisting conspiracy are still in post. The only thing they regret is being caught.

“The reason why the blacklisting firms are offering a compensation scheme now is because of the unrelenting campaign, political exposure and especially the impending High Court claim being brought by Guney Clark and Ryan solicitors supported by the Blacklist Support Group. The so far undisclosed documentary evidence we have amassed for the High Court claim will expose the entire conspiracy. It is no coincidence that all of the companies signed up to Blacklisting Compensations Scheme are named defendants in the High Court claim. This is a cynical move intended to reduce corporate reputational damage.

“There will no doubt be exhaustive negotiations in the coming months. Victims of blacklisting demand that there should be no talks about us, without us. We are the people who have been blacklisted. We expect to play a central role in the negotiations.

“The Blacklist Support Group would like to make our position crystal clear before any negotiations even start. We have no intention whatsoever to stop or even pause our campaign for a fully independent public inquiry to expose everyone involved in this human rights conspiracy wherever they are hiding – in the companies, the police or anywhere else.

“Our High Court claim continues. Our campaign for justice continues”.

Sean Curran – partner at Guney Clark & Ryan solicitors for the High Court claim said: “GCR cautiously welcomes the proposal for an industry wide compensation scheme. Our primary commitment is to achieve justice for the Claimants we represent and we will not be diverted from this aim. We make it clear that we will not consent to any agreement that does not properly reflect the serious emotional and financial distress that our clients have so unjustifiably suffered. It is our hope that any proposal adequately reflects the injustice so inherent in the very concept of blacklisting.”

Note to Editors:

For interviews with blacklisted workers contact:

Dave Smith 07882-579452

Steve Acheson 07949-335390

* On the very same day as the compensation scheme is announced, a senior employment judge is being asked to make a legal ruling on whether blacklisting is a breach of human rights – Smith v Carillion at the Employment Appeals Tribunal in London

An electrician sacked in a clear case of blacklisting after raising health and safety concerns has been reinstated in a stunning victory for union campaigning.

Unite member Frank Morris was dismissed last September from the Crossrail project. Unite and the Blacklist Support Group (BSG) said he was targeted because of his trade union activity and safety whistleblowing. A massive campaign for his reinstatement followed. Unite and members of the grassroots BSG followed firms involved in BFK consortium undertaking the Crossrail contract across the UK and on to Holland, France, Spain, Canada and the USA.

Frank’s case was also featured in the BBC One Panorama TV documentary: Blacklist Britain. The Scottish Affairs Select Committee called for Vince Cable to launch a formal investigation into whether workers on the project had been blacklisted, which led to the business secretary referring the issue to the Information Commissioner.

Commenting after agreement was reached this week between BFK and Unite, Dave Smith, secretary of the Blacklist Support Group (BSG) said: “We are no longer prepared to sit back when our best activists are victimised and blacklisted. We have been calling for an industrial solution to end the blacklist and Unite has delivered the goods.”

He added: “The reinstatement of Frank Morris is a kick in the teeth for the blacklisting firms and a turning point in industrial relations in the construction industry.”

TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson said the climbdown by the Crossrail contractors was “great news.” He added: “Trade unionists everywhere will be delighted that Mr Morris has been re-instated. No-one should be punished for raising concerns about the health and safety of their colleagues and it is great that he is now back in post.”

But he said that “the government must carry out a proper investigation and strengthen the regulations. Blacklisting is a shameful practice that has no place in a modern economy. It causes misery for those on the blacklist and puts lives at risk.”

BSG’s Dave Smith said the Crossrail dispute was “totemic.”

“It was not just about Frank Morris. It was about the future direction of trade unionism in the building industry. Such blatant blacklisting was a declaration of war by the big contractors against all unions. If they thought we didn’t have the stomach or the troops for a fight – they were wrong.

“For 12 months Frank Morris has stood outside Crossrail. He has suffered a year of unemployment, financial hardships and physical attacks. But Frank never gave up. The rank and file never gave up. Unite never gave up.”

He said the labour movement is no longer prepared to sit back while its best activists are victimised and blacklisted.

“We have been calling for an industrial solution to end the blacklist and Unite has delivered the goods… The reinstatement of Frank Morris is a kick in the teeth for the blacklisting firms and a turning point in industrial relations in the construction industry.

“This is a historic union victory. And Frank Morris is a working class hero. Raise a glass to celebrate – the rest of the trade union movement, please take note.”

The Blacklist Support Group (BSG) has called on the Scottish Affairs Select Committee  to widen the remit of its investigation into blacklisting and look into the NRB system in the North Sea.

NRB stands for ‘Not Required Back’ is often added to a worker’s file by an oil rig manager if the individual has raised concerns about safety issues or attempts to recruit co-workers to the a trade union. Concerns have been heightened since the Super Puma tragedy on 23 August that claimed the lives of four offshore workers.

BSG says “it is widely known that the vast majority of oil rig workers have been unhappy with that particular helicopter for many years but getting anyone to talk publicly has been almost impossible. Both RMT and UNITE unions have criticised the Super Puma and have argued that NRB creates a culture of fear making workers reluctant to make any public criticism for fear that their livelihoods will be ruined.”

BSG – the grassroots campaign that has spearheaded the campaign to expose blacklisting in the construction industry , leading to the  Scottish Affairs Select Committee investigation – now wants the committee of MPs to widen its remit.

It says the covert blacklisting organisation The Consulting Association kept blacklist files on some offshore union activists. Professor Charles Woolfson was added to the blacklist for carrying out research into safety in the North Sea after the Piper Alpha disaster.

BSG spokesperson Brian Higgins said: “NRB in the North Sea is a blacklist – plain and simple. A blacklist that targets union activists and workers conscientious enough to raise safety concerns.

“Whenever workers are worried about losing their jobs if they complain about safety, that is a recipe for a tragedy. The Select Committee has helped to expose the secret blacklist in construction. Now it should shine a light into the same process in the North Sea.”

The police are involved in a ‘cover-up’ of their blacklisting role and can’t be trusted to investigate themselves, the Blacklist Support Group has said. The group was speaking out after the Guardian reported it had seen evidence that the police gathered intelligence on trade union activists and passed the information to The Consulting Association, a clandestine blacklisting agency that unlawfully stored secret files on thousands of workers.
Peter Francis, the whistleblower who revealed that police spied on supporters of the Stephen Lawrence family, says he believes that he personally collected some of the intelligence that later appeared in the files of the blacklisting agency.
The agency – funded by Britain’s biggest building firms – prevented workers they deemed to be politically troublesome from getting jobs in the construction industry. Many trade unionists say their lives were ruined for years when they were barred from getting work as a result.
However, the previously confidential files seen by the Guardian reveal how the blacklisting agency also secretly recorded the political activities of the trade unionists when they took part in demonstrations outside their workplaces, including anti-racist activity.
The testimony from the former undercover officer about the information he gathered on the personal lives and protest activities of the trade unionists is disclosed as a team of police officers led by Derbyshire chief Constable, Mick Creedon, investigates the conduct of the Special Branch unit that planted spies in political campaigns for four decades.
As part of its inquiry, Creedon’s team is examining claims that police colluded with the blacklisters and shared intelligence from its own files on so-called “subversives”.
The new evidence has emerged after senior figures involved for many years in running the blacklisting admitted to a parliamentary committee that the blacklisters regularly exchanged information, or had contacts, with the police.
Francis has been disclosing details of his covert work for the unit, the Special Demonstration Squad, as he supports calls for a public inquiry into its infiltration of political groups between 1968 and 2008. The new files are drawn from a database compiled by the Consulting Association, and indicated there was “ongoing” police surveillance of construction activists.
Another undercover police officer exposed in the Rob Evans and Paul Lewis book Undercover, posed as a construction worker during the late 90s and actually chaired campaign meetings reported on blacklist files.
This suspicion was backed up by David Clancy, investigations manager at the ICO who has told a court and a Select Committee that in his opinion “information on some of the files could only have been supplied by the police”.
Creedon’s team is now investigating claims from the blacklisted workers that portions of the files could only have come from the police or security services, as managers in the construction industry could simply not have known about demonstrations the trade unionists were attending outside of their work hours.
Dave Smith, a spokesperson for the blacklisted workers, said: “Policing investigating the police is never going to get to the truth. This smacks of a cover-up. Only a judge-led public inquiry will get to the facts of collusion between the state and the blacklisters.”
He added: “The mountain of evidence about the police and security services spying on trade union activists is now damning. We even know the names of the undercover cops who spied on us. This is not about a couple of rogue officers: this is deliberate state collusion with big business.”
He said it was “now crystal clear that the police and security services were involved in that human rights abuse.”
Smith criticised both the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Metropolitan Police refusing to disclose documents confirming the collusion between the police and blacklisters. “Worse still, it seems the police are still spying on us,” he said. “Why are the authorities refusing to give us the documents? Why are the police spying on blacklisted workers campaigning for the truth about this national scandal?
“This is a cover up – plain and simple. How can victims of this human rights abuse have any faith whatsoever in the truth being uncovered when the police are investigating themselves? Only a full Leveson style public inquiry will get to the truth – what more evidence do the bloody politicians need?”
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson told the Guardian: “A complaint alleging breach of the Data Protection Act by police was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission who directed it should be subject to a local investigation. The investigation is at an early stage and we are not prepared to provide further details at this time.”

Sir Robert McAlpine has added at least nine other contractors as co-defendants against a multi-million pound legal action by blacklisted building workers. Solicitors Guney, Clark and Ryan are acting for more than 100 construction workers who launched the compensation claim last year. The claim was made against McAlpine, who were defending the action on their own.

The company told trade journal Construction Enquirer: “Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd can confirm that it has issued Part 20 Claims against nine construction groups in relation to its on-going defence of allegations of ‘blacklisting’ of workers in the industry. Sir Robert McAlpine believes that all of the companies that have been served these legal documents were participants in The Consulting Association and all will join Sir Robert McAlpine as co-defendants in the action brought by a small number of construction workers.”

The nine major contractors added to the list of defendants are Balfour Beatty, BAM, Carillion, Costain, Laing O’Rourke, Kier, Skanska, Vinci and AMEC.  When subsidiaries are included, the list runs to 34 firms.

Steve Acheson, a spokesperson for the Blacklist Support Group, said: “The entire construction industry is now on trial in the High Court.” He added: “We are fighting for compensation for our families but we are also fighting for all those workers who lost their lives on building projects when safety reps were systematically targeted by these companies who value profits above human life.”

Sean Curran, a partner at Guney, Clark and Ryan solicitors, said: “We are very happy that the action is now progressing through the court system. Ultimately we look forward to the day we obtain redress on behalf of our clients and in doing so, ensuring they can move on with their careers and personal lives without this experience continuing to blight them.”