Motion 57 to TUC Congress 2013 - Employment discrimination - 'Blacklisting!'

57 Employment discrimination


Congress:

i) commends the work of the Scottish Affairs

Committee and others in progressing the

campaign for justice for the 3,213 blacklisted

construction workers and environmentalists


ii) condemns the ICO’s continued failure to

be pro-active when, four-and-a-half years

after it caught 44 construction companies

red-handed, it is still sitting on the details of

3,213 blacklisted construction workers and

environmentalists – the majority of whom are

still unaware they have been blacklisted and

therefore denied the opportunity of justice


iii) sees as hollow the apologies by some

construction companies for blacklisting

when not a single penny in compensation

has been paid to their victims

iv) applauds those using ethical procurement

policies to exclude the blacklisters from

public contracts until they apologise

to, and compensate, their victims.

Building on the resolution agreed by Congress 2012,

Congress instructs the General Council to campaign:

a) to use ethical procurement in national and

local government and other public bodies

to secure justice for those blacklisted by

barring companies who used The Consulting

Association from public contracts until

they fully purge their guilt by apologising

to, and compensating, their victims.

b) for all workers, including agency workers,

to have stronger legal protection and

employment rights protecting them from any

form of blacklisting; to make blacklisting a

criminal offence punishable by imprisonment

and unlimited fines and for the Labour Party

to make these manifesto commitments.

c) for a public inquiry on a par with the

Leveson Inquiry.

GMB

Amendment

• Insert at start of paragraph 2, before “Building”,:

“Congress notes that currently UK law does not

outlaw blacklisting even though the practice is

outwith ILO Convention 98 and likely to be a breach

of the European Convention of Human Rights – here

Congress notes the supportive work of the Institute

of Employment Rights – and”

Unite

Amendment

• In paragraph 2, insert new sub-paragraph a and
re-number existing a, b and c as b, c and d:


“a for companies to be required to answer

whether they have ever compiled, used, sold or

supplied a prohibited list which contains details of

trade unionists or was compiled for the purpose

of discrimination in recruitment, as part of ethical

procurement practices.”

Union of Construction,

Allied Trades and Technicians.