Unite do deal, but contractors still at risk!

CONSTRUCTION NEWS REPORTS:

UNITE was the last of the four unions to settle its case, after the blacklist firms reached agreement with GCR, GMB and Ucatt in April.

In total, more than £10m will be paid to 256 workers represented by Unite, with payouts ranging from £25,000 to £250,000.

The contractors who have reached the settlement are Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and Vinci.

Sir Robert McAlpine added co-defendants to the blacklist trial in 2013, after it was named as a defendant.

The settlement does not include Amec or Bam, both of whom were originally brought into the trial by Sir Robert McAlpine.

Between them, the 10 companies owned 33 of the 45 companies originally named as part of the blacklist operation.

Blacklisting was exposed when the offices of The Consulting Association were raided by the Information Commissioner’s Office and closed down.

The ICO found in the offices a handwritten database containing information on 3,212 workers.

The contractors are still subject to legal action, including from the man who blew the whistle on the use of the blacklist, which was uncovered in 2009.