1. George Tapp - NOT GUILTY VERDICT:
Michael Collins the driver who drove through a blacklisting protest outside the Manchester City Training ground fracturing both knee caps of ex-Salford Labour councillor George Tapp has been found not guilty in Manchester Crown Court
2. High Court halts firms insulting compensation scheme:
The firms insulting compensation scheme that would see the vast majority of blacklisted workers receiving little more than a weeks wages in compensation, so long as we agreed to withdraw all our court claims has been temporarily kicked into touch by the High Court. The firms announced the scheme last year but 9 months later have still not made any real movement on their insulting offer. The entire scheme is a cheap publicity stunt intended to divert attention away from the High Court case.
The firms had intended to launch the scheme unilaterally without the support of any of the unions, the Blacklist Support Group or any of the lawyers involved in the High Court case. They were even granted a secret court order which meant that the ICO could supply them with the current addresses of the people they blacklisted. The High Court has thrown this nonsense out and said that it should all be dealt with on the same date in the High Court hearings and not as some stand alone PR trick.
Even if some people on the blacklist are only interested in financial compensation, the current scheme as it stands is nowhere near adequate. people will end up receiving considerably more than the pittance currently being suggested by the firms.
BSG positions is:
Everyone on the Consulting Association blacklist should be entitled to compensation regardless of how much is written on the files or the dates.
Widows or children should be compensated if the blacklisted worker has passed away.
Compensation should be set at a level that genuinely compensates for the human rights violations carried out by the firms.
Any scheme should provide jobs or retraining for blacklisted workers - a few quid means nothing if people still cant find gainful employment because of blacklisting.
3. Blacklisting High Court claim - 10th July
The postponed High Court case is back on track in 3 weeks time.
Blacklist Support Group protest
9:30am Thursday 10th July 2014
Royal Courts of Justice
The Strand
London
(nearest tube: Holborn or Temple)
When the court case is finished for the day, there will be an update on the progress of the campaign for all those present.
Guney Clark & Ryan solicitors, UNITE, GMB and UCATT are all part of the joint court case with their own legal representation.
4. Human Rights:
Last week, lawyers on behalf of the UK government intervened in the Smith v Carillion court case. In the original Employment Tribunal, the company admitted that their managers were responsible for adding information to his blacklist file due to his union activities. Smith lost because he was an agency worker and therefore not protected by UK law.
John Hendy QC, David Renton and Declan Owens from the Free Representation Unit are now appealing to the Court of Appeal arguing that blacklisting is a breach of human rights and should protect everyone not just direct employees. They are asking for a "Declaration of non-compatibility" which is a legal way of saying that UK law doesn't comply with human rights. Lawyers for the UK government admit that Smith's human rights have been breached but will be arguing against him in court.
This week, a complaint was submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasburg in the case of Smith v Schal International (a wholly owned subsidiary of Carillion) relating to blacklisting the UCATT safety rep on a building site in Brentwood in 1999. This is the 2nd blacklisting case that has been sent to the ECHR, the first was for Terry Brough, a UCATT bricklayer from the North West.
5. Blacklisting speakers this week:
RMT Conference in Bristol
Mon 23rd - Shrewsbury Pickets
Tues 24th - Blacklist Support Group.
Speakers Forum Stage, Green Futures at Glastonbury Festival
Thur 26th 6pm-8pm - Blacklisting Special with Reel News with Shaun Dey & Dave Smith
Sat 3:15pm - "A flavour of the Green Futures Field" with Merrick Badger.
Blacklist Support Group
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