TRIBUNE on Union Blacklisting Complicity

STATEMENT FROM BLACKLIST SUPPORT GROUP

When the campaign over blacklisting started, we concentrated our efforts on exposing the conspiracy by big business and the police. It was directors of multinational corporations who ran the notoriously anti-union Economic League and Consulting Association blacklists, in an operation that lasted five decades and involved a two-way sharing of intelligence about union activists between company executives and Britain’s most secretive political police units.

Over the past twelve years, the exposure of corporate and state wrongdoing has led to new legislation, a select committee investigation, record compensation and a public apology in the High Court, and a dedicated union strand in the ongoing public inquiry into undercover policing. The Blacklist Support Group acknowledge the important role played by the trade unions in our campaign for justice.

But there remains unfinished business. It was known from the very beginning that some blacklist documentation included entries where full-time union officials were recorded as the source of the information. blacklistMultiple files include the entry ‘EETPU says NO’, a fact so appalling that the select committee investigation even discussed it. Witness statements prepared by blacklisting managers for the High Court trial claim that some union officials provided them with information.

In his statement, Trevor Watcham—a former chairman of the Consulting Association—claims to have shared a table at an Economic League event with ‘Leon Brittan of the Conservative Party (who had been the main speaker) and Eric Hammond of the electricians’ union together with some members of his union executive’. Norman Tebbit’s recent revelations about secret meetings with the EETPU General Secretary only add to the growing pile of evidence that union collusion in blacklisting took place at the highest levels. This is totally unacceptable, and the union movement needs to face up to this unsavoury aspect of its past.

But this treachery did not occur in a vacuum. To understand why this happened it is necessary to appreciate the industrial relations context of the construction industry. For decades, the leadership of the construction unions adopted strategies that concentrated on winning favour with employers rather than mobilising supposedly ‘self-employed’ workers to take action.

In their hunt for members, the union bureaucracy made sweetheart deals with employers that abandoned the most basic principles of trade unionism. The right wing EETPU was expelled from the TUC following their support of Rupert Murdoch during the Wapping dispute that saw over 6,000 unionised print workers lose their jobs overnight. Branches that opposed the leadership were closed down and leading left-wing members repeatedly disciplined or expelled. As an aside, the Labour MP John Spellar was the Political Officer for EETPU throughout this period.

But it was not just EETPU: other construction unions also adopted overtly business friendly strategies. Bulk membership agreements — where a union official strikes a deal with a manager to pay a set amount of union subs each month without ever talking to the workers—might sound like gangster-style protection money to buy industrial peace, but they were common in the sector.

The phenomenon of appointed convenors, where a union regional secretary and a major employer would jointly agree on who the full-time union representative on a project should be, in the vast majority of cases without any election by the workforce, has existed for decades and continues to this day. Companies guilty of blacklisting union activists were often the most vocal in their support for appointed convenors, who became incorporated into corporate industrial relations and safety structures. The lack of democracy and potential for favouritism in the opaque appointment process is obvious and has no place in any union that claims to be member-led.

To be clear, it is not every union official in construction. Many are honest, value-driven trade unionists who have stood up for workers’ rights. But it is beyond doubt that over a fifty-year period, some general secretaries, some senior union officials, and some appointed convenors formed overly cosy relationships with employers.

Enjoying hospitality in pubs, restaurants, and hotels, or attending sporting events with industrial relations managers from blacklisting firms was viewed as acceptable practice. Press reports from the 1990s actually name UCATT and TGWU officials accused of taking bribes and other inducements from employers, including procurement of prostitutes.

A revolving door exists through which, upon leaving the union, officials regularly take up positions as industrial relations consultants working for the very construction firms they previously negotiated against. It is in this context that gossip about ‘troublesome’ left-wing union activists gets discussed – and appears on blacklist files.

While many cases may be ‘loose talk’ encouraged by alcohol, in some cases the collusion in blacklisting appears more premeditated. It was documentary evidence that forced blacklisted union members to write an open letter in 2016 calling for a fully independent investigation into potential collusion by union officials in blacklisting their own members. The letter states that ‘every union activist in construction knows who the named officials are, as does every major employer’, and describes potential collusion as an ‘open sore’ within Unite.

Branches flooded the Unite Executive Council with motions and in 2019 an independent QC led investigation to look into possible collusion was set up by Len McCluskey. Blacklist Support Group applauded the Unite independent investigation, encouraging anyone with documents or oral testimony that may be relevant to contact lawyers collating evidence.

Solicitors have travelled the country taking witness statements from blacklisted workers who have made serious allegations, including claims that some officials gave evidence at Employment Tribunals in support of the employers, rather than in support of sacked union members. And this is only the beginning, even more documentary evidence has been presented to the investigation by activists.

This includes Subject Access Request disclosures that show that a number of senior union officials were blind copying internal emails about union activists to third parties – including to industrial relations consultants working for blacklisting firms. Searches of Companies House database have discovered that some construction union officials were directors of consultancies providing services to the industry while they were employed by the union. This needs to be fully investigated at the very least.

Yet despite making good progress early on, the Unite investigation appears to have ground to a halt during Covid-19. Jane McNeill QC, the independent lawyer who will write the final report, has only just been formally appointed, and a full search of the Unite ICT system and the archives of predecessor unions has yet to take place. Everyone accepts that the unions and lawyers have been exceptionally busy during the pandemic. But if courts and public inquiries are operating, the investigation into possible collusion should also be able to continue.

The election for the next general secretary of Unite is now underway. The Blacklist Support Group calls upon every candidate to publicly pledge that the investigation into union collusion will continue under their watch, and that if any officials currently employed by the union are criticised in the final QC written report, that they will face appropriate disciplinary action.

The investigation into union collusion in blacklisting is a key battle in the long-term struggle over the very soul of trade unionism in construction. It begs the question: what kind of trade unionism do workers deserve?

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Blacklist Solicitor Quizes Labour MP on Complicity

Imran Khan QC, acting on behalf of the Blacklist Support Group, has written a letter (attached) to John Spellar MP, asking the former minister in the Blair government to clarify his involvement in secret meetings that took place between Norman Tebbit and leaders of the Electric, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union (EETPU). Lord Tebbit told a parliamentary Zoom meeting last week that such meetings took place during his time as Secretary of State for Employment in the Thatcher government, claiming that the meetings were held to discuss how to deal with 'left-wing' members of the union. Tebbit later confirmed the meetings took place in a interview for The Times, which states:

“I got briefings from Special Branch on what some of the hard-left, communist-style leaders were up to, yes,” Tebbit, who was employment secretary from 1981 to 1983, said this morning. “But I got far more briefings from my friends who were trade union leaders.” Describing secret audiences with unions including the Electric, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, he added: “Friends of mine who were trade union leaders would come to see me at the Department of Employment by arrangement. They would drive, be admitted straight into the underground car park and take the lift straight to my office, so that nobody would know that they had seen me.”

Before entering parliament, John Spellar was the EETPU Political Officer (1969-1992) which included the period during the 1980s when the union was expelled from the TUC because of what were referred to as 'sweetheart deals' with employers, including supporting Rupert Murdoch during the year long Wapping dispute. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Spellar

Blacklist Support Group represents construction workers who were blacklisted for their union activities by major building contractors, including many members of the EETPU. Dozens of the unlawful blacklist files include the entry "EETPU says NO". An internal police investigation called Operation Reuben, has admitted that the police infiltrated trade unions to spy on activists, and that Special Branch and the Security Services provided information to the illegal blacklisting organisations; the Consulting Association and the Economic League. Given that Lord Tebbit revealed that while Employment minister he received briefings about union members from Special Branch, the secret meetings between the Conservative Minister and the EETPU may be relevant to the public inquiry into undercover policing being chaired by Sir John Mitting.

To ascertain whether John Spellar MP had any involvement in the meetings, Imran Khan QC has asked the following questions:

In your position as the EETPU political officer:

1. What was your role in setting up the meetings between EETPU and Norman Tebbit?

2. Did you attend these or any other any meetings between the union and Norman Tebbit?

3. Are you aware of any documentation relating to the meetings; such as but not restricted to invitations, emails, minutes, meeting notes, diary entries, reports to the EETPU Executive, or any other records kept by yourself or the union?

4. Did you arrange any similar meetings with Conservative government Ministers, especially during the time when EETPU was expelled from the TUC?

Note:

The EETPU only ever had two General Secretaries, Lord Frank Chapple (1968-1984) and Eric Hammond OBE (1984-1992).

Following various union mergers, EETPU is now part of UNITE the Union, which in 2019 set up an independent investigation into allegations of collusion by union officials in blacklisting of union members.

LORD TEBBIT'S 'FRIENDS IN THE UNIONS'

QC for blacklisted workers calls on Lord Tebbit to appear before SPYCOPS PUBLIC INQUIRY

Imran Khan QC, acting on behalf of the Blacklist Support Group has written to Sir John Mitting, chair of the public inquiry into undercover policing calling for Lord Norman Tebbit to be called to give oral evidence. The formal request comes after Tebbit revealed that when he was Secretary of State for Employment in the Thatcher government, he received regular briefings about trade unions from Special Branch, which included such detail as where individual union members went on holiday. The frank admission came during a parliamentary meeting hosted by Richard Burgon and the Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (COPS).

Tebbit also told MPs and peers attending the Zoom meeting that he often held private meetings with 'friends in the unions' including the General Secretary of the EETPU electricians union to discuss how to deal with leftwing union activists. After the meeting Lord Tebbit told The Times:

“I got briefings from Special Branch on what some of the hard-left, communist-style leaders were up to. But I got far more briefings from my friends who were trade union leaders. Friends of mine who were trade union leaders would come to see me at the Department of Employment by arrangement. They would drive, be admitted straight into the underground car park and take the lift straight to my office, so that nobody would know that they had seen me.”

Dave Smith, secretary of the Blacklist Support Group commented on the letter sent to Sir John Mitting:

"We demand that Tebbit be called to give evidence to the public inquiry about these Special Branch briefings. If any official government or union documentation relating to these meetings at a Ministerial office exist, we demand that they are disclosed to the inquiry. Just as importantly, Tebbit should be forced to name his 'friends in the unions' who grassed up union members to a Conservative government Minister. Any union leaders or officials who colluded with a Tory government against other union members should be publicly exposed. Mitting has repeatedly allowed police officers and their managers to avoid giving evidence to this supposedly public inquiry, but any last minute excuses for Tebbit not to give evidence will be totally unacceptable. If Tebbit is healthy enough to sit in the country's upper legislative chamber, he is fit enough to give evidence at a public inquiry".

Previous press coverage of Tebbit's comments: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/special-branch-spied-on-union-leaders-norman-tebbit-admits-xv20rkmzw https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/tebbit-lifts-lid-government-involvement-spying-trade-unionists https://www.union-news.co.uk/thatcher-minister-tebbit-admits-receiving-special-branch-reports-about-union-activists/ https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5baz3/police-spies-told-a-minister-where-left-wing-trade-unionists-go-on-holiday https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2021/march/norman-tebbit-s-admission-about-government-involvement-in-spying-on-trade-unionists-must-be-fully-investigated/

Blacklist Support Group

Blacklisted Electrician Francie Graham dies

THE Blacklist Support Group are sad to hear the news that Francie Graham has passed away. A blacklisted electrician, socialist, rank and file union activist, political campaigner at Westminster and Holyrood and someone who liked a beer with comrades.

Francie was a stalwart of the union movement, who fought the bosses but also campaigned against corruption in EETPU and the JIB, getting the issue raised in the House of Commons through Dundee MP, John McAllion. When the EETPU were expelled from the TUC for their collusion with Rupert Murdoch during the Wapping dispute, Francie, like many other sparks joined the EPIU. His union activism meant that he was repeatedly victimized by the employers and was forced to work away from his Dundee home for many years to find work.

When the Consulting Association was exposed, Francie was found to be on the building industry blacklist and became the first blacklisted worker to give evidence to the Scottish Affairs elect committee investigation into blacklisting at Westminster. Francie was one of the most public faces of the Blacklist Support Group and the Construction Rank & File, appearing alongside his close friend Steuart Merchant in the media and raising the issue at Holyrood and Dundee council. He was still out picketing and protesting when others would have hung up their boots, active in the Frank Morris blacklisting dispute at Crossrail, BESNA and INEOS at Grangemouth.

Anyone who knew Francie probably enjoyed a pint in the pub after meetings or protests, where he continued the debates and added to our informal education. Raise a glass to a man of principle and one of our own.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/calls-for-building-firms-to-be-probed-over-1550224 https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13078739.companies-operated-a-blacklist-of-union-activists-they-took-peoples-livelihoods-away-they-should-be-jailed/ https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/2013/04/17/dundee-electrians-anger-over-blacklist/ https://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/dundee/137469/workers-ask-bam-construction-to-apologise

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Unite members have won the first battle in their war against deskilling electricians.

BLACKLIST SUPPORT GROUP:

When was the last time you heard of employers’ proposals for a training course leading to UK wide direct action led by the workers themselves?

Big contractors at Hinckley Point nuclear power station want safety critical electrical work to be carried out without the need for a qualified electrician. Sparks have got other ideas.

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UNION NEWS:

The UNITE union stepped in after it was discovered two training standards had been introduced at Hinkley Point by the Engineering Construction Training Board (ECITB) that would undermine the role of the electrician, without the union’s input or agreement.

Rank-and-file members occupied the offices of EDF Energy, and threatened to blockade the Somerset nuclear power station site. As a result of the protests, EDF has announced it has put the plans on hold.

A statement from Unite’s Electrical and Mechanical Combine said: “We welcome the news from Hinkley Point that all training courses will cease until our dispute has been resolved. We also appreciate the statement of support from our general secretary, Len McCluskey. This does not mean that this dispute is almost over, far from it.

“Our focus now turns to NG Bailey and Balfour Beatty Kilpatrick. We will be targeting these companies on a weekly basis at their offices, their sites, their supply chain and their governance, both here in the UK and overseas.

“We demand that a statement is sent out from Baileys and Balfours with a clear and unambiguous proclamation that they will withdraw from the training standards CPSO1 and CCSO1 at Hinkley Point, and that they will cease their immediate attacks on the skillset of electricians and other trades immediately and forever.

“For over 30 years we have had to endure the deskilling agenda of major electrical contractors. Each time we have responded and each time these companies have been forced into retreat. But they keep coming back.

“We will not tolerate these attacks any longer. If this statement is not unequivocal, then Balfours et al will become legitimate targets for further indiscriminate actions. We will not go away.”

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Blacklist Support Group: Spy Cop's Inquiry

Dave Smith, core participant in the undercover policing public inquiry was scheduled to make the opening statement on behalf of the Blacklist Support Group at 4:15pm, Friday 6th November. There has been a last minute legal challenge over the content of the statement, which will now not take place. A meeting before Sir John Mitting, chair of the Inquiry into undercover policing, is set for Monday morning.

ORDER OF BUSINESS: POLICE SPY INQUIRY

AFTER a five and a half year delay, the public inquiry into the abuses carried out by the UK's undercover political police has finally started.

The Blacklist Support Group plus the three unions in the inquiry; UNITE, FBU and NUM will be making their opening statements on Friday 6th November. Watch all the union strand opening statements via this link: https://www.ucpi.org.uk/hearing/opening-statements-5/

10:00 AM

James Scobie QC (Core Participants represented by Paul Heron)

12:15 PM

Ruth Brander (Non-Police, Non-State Core Participant Group)

2:00 PM

Lord Hendy QC (Fire Brigades Union and Unite [Category E Core Participants])

3:45 PM

Gareth Pierce (National Union of Mineworkers [Category E Core Participant])

4:15 PM

Dave Smith (Blacklist Support Group [Category E Core Participant])

Some of the press coverage so far:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iObTQK1qqhk

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/504930-police-justice-campaigns-ricky-reel/

https://www.union-news.co.uk/__trashed-3/

https://www.thecanary.co/uk/2020/11/01/campaigners-question-if-mammoth-undercover-policing-inquiry-can-get-to-the-truth/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8903241/Met-spy-police-inquiry-told-sexism-racism-flings-activists.html

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/28/police-spying-inquiry-examine-targeting-black-justice-groups

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/28/secrets-and-lies-untangling-the-uk-spy-cops-scandal

https://www.thenational.scot/news/18838759.stephen-paton-demonising-activists-today-may-well-praise-tomorrow

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/undercover-policing-inquiry-spycops-mark-kennedy-protesters-women-b1456200.html

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/government-spooks-posing-as-humanitarian-aid-workers-may-have-infiltrated-some-of-uks-largest-charities/01/11/

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/entertainment/blowing-the-cover-what-type-of-people-become-spycops/02/11/

Body Bags Protest -

Construction Workers Call To 'Shut The Sites'

THE Construction Leadership Council (CLC ) have just shockingly announced that construction needs to stay open and social distancing for coronavirus can be ignored for up to 15 minutes at a time, if a job cannot be carried out by one person alone. This watering down of official guidelines for building sites will pass on infection to their family members and send hundreds to their deaths.

No construction worker wants to put their family at risk, but they also need to pay their rent, which is why the electrician, bricklayer, carpenter, engineer and union safety rep who participated in the direct action also called on the government to pay every worker, irrespective of whether they are a direct employee, self-employed or an agency worker.

'Shut The Sites' activist went on to blockade a nearby Laing O'Rourke’s building site, sending a clear message to the CLC, major contractors and the government - if you don't shut down construction and keep people safe, then workers are going to
do it themselves.

The protest took place of 28th April - International Workers Memorial Day The global Day of Action by unions over deaths in the workplace. The slogan for the protest is “Mourn the Dead – Fight for the Living”.

So after the protest, the construction workers paid their respects to their fellow workers who had died at the bronze ‘Building Worker’ statue at Tower Hill in London. Shut The Sites spokesperson, Dan Dobson said:

#ShutTheSites is taking off as a grassroots movement on construction sites across the UK, made up of workers who disagree with the Government policy of keeping sites open. At least 100 NHS/Care workers have now died from Covid-19, the Government have shown that it cannot protect or provide PPE for the genuine front line key workers, so how are non essential construction workers meant to fare? All non-critical sites need to be stopped and all workers need to be paid, regardless of their employment status."

Note: A full risk assessment was carried out prior to the action, full PPE was provided and control measures were put in place to reduce transmission of COVID-19.

Blacklist Support Group demands for construction

* #ShutTheSites - Close all non-essential building sites to keep workers and their families safe 

 * #PAYEveryworker - Ensure every worker gets paid to ensure their families are not put into destitution

Blame greedy bosses, clients and the government NOT the workers

The vast majority of construction workers are decent hardworking people. None of them want to put their own or their family members' lives at risk by working in a situation where coronavirus infection is likely. Yet despite the apparent lockdown, photographs of packed building sites have been all over the media for days. When construction workers go to work, they share minibuses, travel on packed tubes, eat in crowded canteens, go up in full hoists, use palm print entry systems and live in barrack style accommodation on site. Construction is a dirty dangerous place at the best of times with notoriously poor welfare facilities, where the very process requires people to work in close proximity. Coronavirus will spread like wildfire in these circumstances.

Blame for this giant threat to public health lies with the greedy major contractors and clients continuing to enforce penalty clauses for delays; forcing building workers to come into work. Blame also lies with the government for not ordering all non-essential construction work to close. Ministers make speeches from lecterns emblazoned with the slogan 'Stay Home Save Lives' but building workers are still expected to go to work. There appears to have been orchestrated lobbying by the large contractors who are also major financial donors to the Tory Party. Its all about the money.

A culture of fear

There are also widespread reports of construction workers being sacked or told not to return to site if they complain or take the decision to leave unsafe sites. Construction News even reported workers being worried about blacklisting and being told to "F*ck Off, if you don't like it". One electrician in central London was sacked for gross-misconduct for posting a tweet about lack of social distancing. 

As blacklisted building workers, we know from personal experience that the spectre of blacklisting is still very real in the construction industry. Big firms claim it's a thing of the past but everyone knows it's still going on. If safety reps get sacked, it's no surprise that other workers keep their heads down. It's a climate of fear that's putting public health at risk.

Coronavirus Risk Assessment for the construction industry would highlight:

• Repeated prosecutions for breaches of H&S laws
• Blacklisting of safety reps by major contractors
• Workers being sacked where they complain abut safety
• Highest workplace fatality rates of any sector
• Intrinsically dirty work involving heavy lifting, often as a team
• Working in close proximity in confined spaces, hoists, scaffolds and trenches
• Often non-existent welfare facilities
• Almost universal bogus 'self-employment' where workers won't be paid if they don't come in

Using the Law

Every worker should stay safe and put their own and family member's safety above the profits of their employer. Blacklist Support Group urge all concerned workers in non-essential workplaces to talk to your fellow workers and collectively approach the boss to keep staff safe. If management refuse to positively respond to reasonable requests, then legislation provides protection to employees who move themselves from an unsafe workplace. 

Section 44 (1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, specifically states:

An employee has the right not to be subjected to any detriment by any act, or any deliberate failure to act, by his employer done on the ground that:

(d)in circumstances of danger which the employee reasonably believed tobe serious and imminent and which he could not reasonably have been expected to avert, he left (or proposed to leave) or (while the danger persisted) refused to return to his place of work or any dangerous part of his place of work, or

(e)in circumstances of danger which the employee reasonably believed to be serious and imminent, he took (or proposed to take) appropriate steps to protect himself or other persons from the danger. Blacklist Support Group supports 2 linked demands for the construction sector:

'Self-Employed' Workers

However agency workers and anyone classified as self-employed are not covered by this legal protection. Employment law is stacked in favor of the employers. So rather than merely quoting the law, groups of workers should join a union and approach their boss collectively. This will increase the likelihood of success and decrease the chance of any victimization. 

The majority of construction workers are also classified as self-employed, which means that if they decide to self-isolate they will not be paid by the firm they're actually working for. If they go off sick, they won't get sick pay. This allows the big firms to extert pressure on building workers who need money to put food on the table. 

The government scheme for self-employed workers is a joke. No one gets a penny until June. How are people supposed to pay their bills?  People have every right to keep a roof over their heads. The government position is changing by the day and concerted pressure can bring about further changes.  Rather than the hopeless self-employed scheme or Universal Credit of £95 a week, it would be more useful if the government made universal income payments of around £1000 to everyone in the country (as has happened in Hong Kong).   No landlord or bank has a God given right to make a profit: the law of the land grants them that right, and the government can suspend that right. If the government suspended all rent, mortgage and interest payments for the next 3 months no one would be in fear of losing their home (as has happened in Italy).

Below is a short selection of the media coverage relating to the construction industry:

Dan Dobson on Radio 5 Live: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000gmqp (starts at 21:29hrs)

Dan Dobson - Tribune article: https://tribunemag.co.uk/2020/03/coronavirus-crisis-exposes-construction-industrys-bogus-self-employment

Dave Smith at Coronavirus Support Group for Workers virtual meeting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT1YtAeu-SQ&t=16s

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On Being Gutted by Tory Turkey's Xmas Vote

And  Gracious in Defeat!

'Let me be gracious in defeat,' comedian MARK STEEL WROTE ON TWITTER after the exit poll:                     'All the people celebrating now are the most entitled, embittered, sneering nasty selfish racist foul fuckwits.  I'd still rather be with the decent people, however gutted they are , than with you for a second.'

In a more restrained demeanour Dave Smith of the Labour leaning BLACKLIST SUPPORT GROUP, wrote on Facebook:

13 December at 03:37

'This is an awful result for the entire labour movement.
'Whatever people's thoughts on Corbyn or Brexit; the Labour manifesto commitments on workers rights, NHS & public services, renationalisation of rail & utilities, house building and the climate were supported by the majority of the population. All these things are now at risk from a rightwing Johnson government.
'For blacklisted construction workers, our hope for a public inquiry into the Consulting Association scandal now appears to be off the agenda for the next few years at the very least. Blacklist Support Group would like to put on record our thanks to John McDonnell and all those who fought our corner and made both blacklisting and the spycops scandal mainstream political issues.

'But working people should never rely on Westminster politicians to solve our problems for us. The trade union movement is going nowhere. We fought back against other Tory leaders in the past and we'll do it again. We need to stay strong; but we're also allowed to feel gutted.'

Jay McKenna Acting Regional Secretary for the TUC in the North West wrote more soberly:
'Last week was undoubtedly a disappointment for the labour movement and underlines the scale of the challenge we face... And there will be more. More action but more listening about what people want and need from us.'   

To get over being 'gutted' there is even some talk of Jeremy Corbyn becoming like Tony Wegdwood Benn, the son of William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate, a 'National Treasure'*.

* 
Corbyn attended Castle House School, an independent preparatory school near Newport, Shropshire, before, at age 11, becoming a day student at the Adams' Grammar School in the town.

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Dispiriting election redraws political map of UK

'This is an awful result', said Dave Smith 

of the Blacklist Support Group

by Brian Bamford

 
LAST SATURDAY the Financial Times leader writer began an editorial thus:
'A dispiriting election has produced a seismic outcome.  Britain's political landscape has been redrawn as it was by Tony Blair's New Labour victory in 1997, or Margaret Thatcher's win in 1979.  The Conservative landslide is a vindication of Boris Johnson's strategy of going all-out for a new Brexit deal and building his campaign around delivering it....  Yet the result, combined with the Scottish National party's surge in Scotland and nationalist gains in Northern Ireland, will strain the integrity of the UK.'

At the same time in an e-mail written immediately following the election Dave Smith secretary of the Blacklist Support Group, which has been consistently loyal to the Labour Party wrote:
'This is an awful result for the entire labour movement.

'Whatever people's thoughts on Corbyn or Brexit; the Labour manifesto commitments on workers rights, NHS & public services, renationalisation of rail & utilities, house building and the climate were supported by the majority of the population.  All these things are now at risk from a right wing Johnson government.'

Yet prior to the election in another e-mail he had wisely warned us:  'working people should never place dewy eyed trust in politicians, lawyers or union leaders to solve our problems for us; continuing to build a movement remains essential.' 

But what really happened under the Attlee Labour Government of 1945?

MILITARY BLACKLEGS & the 1945 LABOUR GOVERNMENT 

Dave Smith does well to remind us that we should not 'place dewey eyed trust in politicians' etc.   for within six days of the Labour Government taking office in 1945, it sent conscript troops into the Surrey Docks, London, to break a ten-week-old strike against a wage-cut....

Yet in a Labour amendment to the Military Training Bill, in Hansard on May 12th, 1939, this same Labour Party had declared:
'No conscript should be required to take duty in aid of the civil power in connection with a trade dispute, or to perform, in consequence of a trade dispute, any civil or industrial duty customarily performed by a civilian.'

Surely there is some inconsistency here?

THE GREAT ILLUSION 

In 1959, on the Aldermaston CND march, some trade union critics, who described themselves as 'syndicalists', not unlike Dave Smith of the Blacklist Support Group today, claimed at that time:  'we believe many sincere but starry-eyed Labour supporters have already half-forgotten the events during those six years in which every Socialist principle was betrayed by the politicians... [and that] It is no service to the working class for the truth to be hidden, however embarrassing and unpalatable it may be for some people.'  (How Labour Governed 1945-1951 - DIRECT ACTION PAMPHLET:  Publications Committee, SWF).

 THE LABOUR PROGRAM in 1945

Like Len McCluskey said last week about the panicky policy incontinence of the current Labour Party, the 1945 Labour Government, with a vast majority, had an economic programme based on two principles - 'a give-away programme and state control of economic functions'.

Dave Smith in his generally depressing Tweet continues to argue in this gloomy vain:

'For blacklisted construction workers, our hope for a public inquiry into the Consulting Association scandal now appears to be off the agenda for the next few years at the very least.' 

Bro. Smith was here pinning his faith on Page 48 of the Labour Manifesto:

'We will establish public inquiries into historical injustices including blacklisting and Orgreave, and ensure the second phase of the Grenfell Inquiry has the confidence of all those affected, especially the bereaved families and survivors.'*

When I last spoke personally to Dave Smith in 2015, at a Blacklist Support Group conference on  'Bullying, blacklisting and whistleblowing' at a two-day event at the University of Greenwich, I expressed my concerns and doubts about his hopes about getting a future Labour Government to solve the problem of blacklisting etc. by creating a distinguished public inquires.  Since 1979, when the alternative newspaper RAP had first exposed Cyril Smith, I long had the experience of seeking public inquires owing to the work I had put in to get something done about child abuse in Rochdale and beyond.  Sadly, by the time the inquiry will finally get to publish its report many of the alleged victims will be beyond help.

The Blacklist & the Consulting Association

Tameside Trade Union Council in Greater Manchester, has been involved with what later became known as the 'BOYS ON THE BLACKLIST' during the Daf dispute in Manchester's Piccadilly in 2003.  That was well before it had been finally confirmed that the blacklist actually existed in 2009** by subsequent events in which the Information Commissioner raided an office of the Consulting Association in Droitwitch, Cheshire.

As the Financial Times leader above indicates the political landscape of the UK  has changed substantially.  But it is not the end of history which some may claim.  The nationalist issues both in Scotland and Northern Ireland, as the FT editor suggests, may still come back to haunt the Tory Government.

Dave Smith is right in his blunt response to be 'gutted' by the outcome!  It is a slap in the face for what passes for the British left.  But we at Northern Voices have always been clear that we have historically even less faith in politicians than Dave Smith has ever had.  George Orwell told the poet Stephen Spender that he always avoided going to cocktail parties to mix with literary folk for fear it may interfere with his own critical judgement of their literary work.  

Could it be that being based and rooted in London that Dave Smith and some of the Blacklist Support Group, may well have become too close to the some of the Labour politicians down there and that it could have clouded their judgement?

In the years since the late naughties that I have known them; Dave Smith and the Blacklist Support Group, have always struck me as one of the most decent phenomena on the British left in this country bar none, aside perhaps from my own personal friends among the Boys on the Blacklist in the North of England, and I don't think that those associated with my own political persuasion among the English anarchists are a patch on them.  Other parts of the British left, especially including the British anarchists, who have presented us with the politics of a shabby little shocker.  Although I believe that Dave Smith and the Blacklist Support Group are wholly committed to fairness and common decency they will be well aware that the Labour party, when in Government, has failed to make serious in-roads towards the abolition of British blacklisting. 

Despite what Dave Smith declares about us placing our faith 'dewey eyed trust in politicians'; I fear that these honourable activists may suffer from being too trusting of people inside the Westminster bubble.      

****************

*  Page 48 of the Labour Manifesto:

"We will establish public inquiries into historical injustices including blacklisting and Orgreave, and ensure the second phase of the Grenfell Inquiry has the confidence of all those affected, especially the bereaved families and survivors. We will also consider a public inquiry in the case of Zane Gbangbola.

We will require judicial warrants for undercover operations and retain the Mitting Inquiry into undercover policing.

We will release all papers on the Shrewsbury 24 trials and 37 Cammell Laird shipyard workers and introduce a Public Accountability Bill".

The Blacklist Support Group are proud to have stood shoulder to shoulder on shared platforms for more than 10 years with campaigners fighting for justice for Orgreave, Grenfell, Zane Gbangbola, victims of undercover political policing, the Shrewsbury Pickets and Cammell Laird ship workers. We have demanded and fought for a public inquiry for over a decade - its is our campaigning that has led to this manifesto commitment.  We therefore whole heartedly support this pledge towards getting the truth we, and other working class miscarriages of justice, deserve.  But working people should never place dewy eyed trust in politicians, lawyers or union leaders to solve our problems for us; continuing to build a movement remains essential.  

Full manifesto available to view here: https://labour.org.uk/manifesto/

**  'During 2008/09 the Iinformation Commisioner's Office carried out an investigation into employment blacklisting in the construction industry.  As part of that investigation, the ICO seized information from a company called The Consulting Association.  Some of the information we seized amounted to a 'blacklist' of individuals who were considered to pose a risk to their employers if employed within the construction industry.'

***  
Following the blacklisting scandal the Labour Government came forward with regulations. These regulations are so weak that they will not deter blacklisting. The only recourse for someone who has been blacklisted still remains taking a case to an employment tribunal and financial loss has to be proved. UCATT has constantly argued for the regulations to be strengthened. They necessary changes are:

• Make blacklisting a criminal offence
• When a blacklist is discovered all those on it are automatically told.
• An automatic right to compensation for everyone blacklisted.
• For the regulations to be widened from the narrow confines of “trade union activities” to the wider “activities associated with trade unions”. Ensuring trade unionists can’t be blacklisted for taking unofficial industrial action, such as a ban on voluntary overtime.

New Alliance of Northern Anarchists Meeting

New Alliance of Northern Anarchists

Meeting for Free Debate: against Censorship & Blacklists.
Noam Chomsky:  ‘Free speech is an achievement and a right’.

On Sat. 14th, Dec. 2019.
At the Town Hall Tavern
20, Tib Lane, Manchester M2 4JA, England
EVENT
Starts at 12 Noon & ends at 5p.m.
Food available Pie & Mash & vegan options.

Speakers include:
Dave Douglass, retired miner, and former Friend &
Director of Freedom Press

Brian Bamford, Joint Editor of the Northern Voices Blog,
  a former Northern Editor of Freedom & the editor of
 a series of essays entitled ‘Chomsky & his critics’.

Brandon, "New Offensive Collective"
Which has recently published ‘Shit Wigs and Steroids’,
a counter punch to identity politics
*

The purpose of this meeting is to bring together those
libertarians who wish to uphold liberty of expression.

Contact e-mail:  northernvoices@hotmail.com

Blogspot: 

Tuesday, 10 December 2019

 www.northernvoicesmag.blogspot.com
e-mail:  northernvoices@hotmail.com
 
**********

THE BLACKLIST & LABOUR MANIFESTO

Page 48 of the Labour Manifesto:

"We will establish public inquiries into historical injustices including blacklisting and Orgreave, and ensure the second phase of the Grenfell Inquiry has the confidence of all those affected, especially the bereaved families and survivors. We will also consider a public inquiry in the case of Zane Gbangbola.

We will require judicial warrants for undercover operations and retain the Mitting Inquiry into undercover policing.

We will release all papers on the Shrewsbury 24 trials and 37 Cammell Laird shipyard workers and introduce a Public Accountability Bill".

Blacklist Support Group are proud to have stood shoulder to shoulder on shared platforms for more than 10 years with campaigners fighting for justice for Orgreave, Grenfell, Zane Gbangbola, victims of undercover political policing, the Shrewsbury Pickets and Cammell Laird ship workers.  We have demanded and fought for a public inquiry for over a decade - its is our campaigning that has led to this manifesto commitment. We therefore whole heartedly support this pledge towards getting the truth we, and other working class miscarriages of justice, deserve.  But working people should never place dewy eyed trust in politicians, lawyers or union leaders to solve our problems for us; continuing to build a movement remains essential.  

Full manifesto available to view here: https://labour.org.uk/manifesto/

Blacklist Support Group

book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNcgrNs6pB8

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

Justice Posponed is Justice Denied!

 Brian Higgins dies before Unite does its duty!

NV Editor: ON this Blog we recently reported

that Private Eye had revealed that bricklayer 

Brian Higgins, a blacklisted trade unionist in the building 

trade, had given evidence that some union officials had

been a font of information in fingering militants. One

such is alleged to be Jerry Swain, now a Unite national

officer.  That was last month's news on this Blog, and we 

regret to announce below the news from Dave Smith of

the Blacklist Support Group that Brian Higgins, the 

victim of blacklisting, is now dead.  So much for justice 

on the building sites.

************

IT is with sadness that we report the death last weekend of blacklisted bricklayer Brian Higgins, former secretary of Northampton UCATT and the the rank and file Building Worker Group.  Our sincere condolences go out to his wife Helen, his daughters, plus the rest of his family and friends. 

Brian's blacklist file starts in 1978 and ran to 49 pages, the largest held by The Consulting Association. During the miners strike, Brian was part of the Laing's Lock Out Committee, and was presented with a High Court injunction to stop picketing after he and other activists were sacked for their union activities on a building site in South London. He ignored it. 

He was also spied on by Mark Jenner, the undercover police agent provocateur from the Special Demonstration Squad, and was a core participant in the public inquiry into undercover policing. 

Brain sat on the BSG executive and spoke at our AGMs, until ill health led to him to stand down. Brian was instrumental in setting up a private meeting in Brussels with the European Commissioner Laszlo Andor, which resulted in new anti-blacklisting legislation being presented to the European parliament. 

Brian was uncompromising in his call for an independent investigation into possible union collusion in blacklisting. This is Brian in his own words, when he wrote a review for Blacklisted:

"The book says I raged against the blacklist. I did and still do. But I have to say the thing about it which angers, in fact, enrages me most, is that some full time officials undoubtedly aided and abetted blacklisting of rank and file union members and some are probably still doing this as the Blacklist continues. It is painfully obvious building employers – who regularly wined and dined full time union officials, took some on golf outings and to sporting contests, to very expensive posh hotels, and even on visits to the Naval and Military Gentlemen’s Club – would demand some things in return! After all there is no such thing as a free lunch and we’re talking about this with knobs on here! Don’t tell us that sometimes the names of site union militants and activists did not come up, and what full time officials said, in these circumstances, did not end up on some Consulting Association (CA) files. This sort of socialising, fraternising and consorting with building employers masquerading as ‘negotiations’ is corrupt and corrupting in the extreme. It’s absolutely disgusting to think that while fulltime union officials were doing this many rank and file union members were being blacklisted out of existence!"

Brian was one of the blacklisted construction workers who signed the Open Letter to UNITE calling for an investigation to be set up. It is now too late for Brian, but we hope that the UNITE EC will set up the investigation into possible collusion ASAP. 

Anyone who has heard Brain speak will remember his booming Glaswegian voice, disdain for union bureaucracy and his liberal use of industrial language. I've stood on pickets lines and attended union conference with Brian. I didn't always agree with everything Brian said (but that is not unusual in the labour movement) and internal union polemics were part of his persona, but it is undeniable that Brian was one of the leading rank and file industrial militants of his generation, who had a significant impact on trade unionism in the construction industry. 

As a fitting tribute, former bricklayer, Neil Findlay MSP submitted

Motion S5M-17548 to the Scottish Parliament titled: 

Brian Higgins - a working class hero (full text attached)

Further details to follow. Our thoughts are with his family.

Dave Smith

Blacklist Support Group

book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNcgrNs6pB8

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

Secret police document on Blacklisting

A SECRET police document has revealed how the Metropolitan Police's Special Branch helped the illegal blacklisting of trade unionists - preventing them from getting jobs because of their political views. 

In one case, detectives suggested one individual was a terrorist, despite the claim being wrong.
The illegal practice - exposed ten years ago - involved major construction firms accessing secret files on 3,000 workers and their union activities.

But until now, little has been known about the police's role, other than a Scotland Yard admission it had been involved.

Part of the secret report underpinning that admission has now been disclosed, after initially being classified as so secret it was for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner's eyes only.  The report - codenamed Operation Reuben - found "numerous areas of concern" with "inappropriate contact of Special Branch officers with private organisations", including with one of the two blacklisting groups, the Economic League and the Consulting Association.

Blacklisting: How it worked

• Blacklisting began with the Economic League in 1919 which shared records on left-wing activists with industry to keep them out of the workplace
• It was closed in 1993 after a Parliamentary inquiry. The Consulting Association sprang up to replace it
• The Information Commissioner's Office raided The Consulting Association in 2009, revealing for the first time the scale of the operation - triggering legal action that continues to this day
• In 2016 eight major construction firms offered settlements to end legal action: Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Keir, Lang O'Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska and Vinci 
• The Reuben investigators found no systematic records of the relationships - but one sharing incident from 1978 had been recorded after a senior officer intervened.
  On that occasion, a trade union activist had applied for a job making educational videos with a company linked to the construction industry.  
  The company passed the individual's name to the Economic League to be checked - which in turn contacted the police for any further intelligence "due to the perceived risk of involvement in education".
  "The receiving officer's initial inquiries revealed a potential link to [redacted] which in his opinion had not been resolved satisfactorily... he returned to EL asking for any further information, stressing the matter's importance due to the possible link to terrorism.
  "This was recorded as fact by the EL representative."
  EL then passed this on to the prospective employer - ending the candidate's chance of getting a job.
  
  
  The applicant appears to have learned that they had been "blacked by the security people".
  One of their relatives was a retired senior police officer who demanded an investigation - and that appears to explain why the incident remained recorded.
  One major blacklisting allegation is that an officer called Mark Jenner collected information after he infiltrated the construction union UCATT between 1995 and 2000.
  The report says that Jenner, who used the alias Cassidy, provided information on 300 people - and 16 of those appeared in the illegal blacklist database.
  Operation Reuben said it found no evidence to prove that Jenner directly provided that intelligence - but it added it could not rule out other officers doing so.
  Roy Bentham, joint secretary of Blacklist Support Group, said that many questions remain unanswered.
  "The police are supposed to uphold law and order, not spy on perfectly democratic organisations such as trade unions," said Mr Bentham.
  "Blacklisting is a national scandal and confirmation that the police colluded with this shameful and unlawful activity is beyond the pale."
• Police admit role in blacklisting workers
• New action over construction 'blacklist'

Imran Khan QC, lawyer for the Blacklist Support Group, said that the onus was now on the undercover policing inquiry to dig deep.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said that the internal report into blacklisting had established that "certain conduct" amounted to improper sharing of information under the law as it stands today.
"Allegations about police involvement with the 'blacklist' will be fully explored during the Undercover Policing Public Inquiry (UCPI)," said the spokesman.
"The Metropolitan Police Service will await the conclusions of the UCPI before considering any appropriate next steps."

************

Blacklisting dispute averted on Crossrail

forwarded to NV by Joe Bailey

THE threat of industrial action on Crossrail was averted after Unite members secured the reinstatement of an electrician suspected of having faced fresh blacklisting. 

Workers had raised fears over the dismissal in late February 2019 of Martin Overy, a former Unite safety representative, who was sacked almost immediately after getting a job at London’s Paddington station (Risks 887).  Mr Overy, whose name was included on the Consulting Association’s blacklist, was sacked five hours after signing a contract with Site Operative Solutions Limited.  In 2016 he received compensation for having been blacklisted, but has struggled to find work since. The union-backed Blacklist Support Group was concerned that Skanska, the company that controls Paddington, may have sought to get rid of him.  However, following a March meeting with Unite official Guy Langston, Mr Overy was reinstated.  In 2016, Skanska was compelled to formally apologise for its role in blacklisting workers. 

Blacklist Support Group joint secretary and Unite executive council member Roy Bentham said:  'This demonstrates that this union can defend its blacklisted members.  In an industry with such an appalling fatality record, workers who are prepared to raise concerns about safety should be valued.  But instead, the treatment of Martin Overy seems a blatant case of blacklisting.'

He added:  'The willingness of the rank and file to take action was never in question, and was central to Martin’s reinstatement.'

************

10th anniversary meeting of BLACKIST GROUP

One week to go until our 10th anniversary meeting in parliament... we've got new revelations that are gonna make the news:

5pm Wed 6th March 2019

Committee Room 10

Houses of Parliament, Westminster

Confirmed speakers (so far): 

John McDonnell MP - founder member of the Blacklist Support Group (and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer)
Imran Khan QC - BSG lawyer at undercover policing public inquiry
Gail Carmail - UNITE the union, Assistant General Secretary
Chris Stephens MP - SNP employment spokesperson 

More to be confirmed  

************ 

Decade of blacklisted workers fighting for justice

10 years on - blacklisted workers are still fighting for justice

Blacklist Support Group - 10th anniversary parliamentary event

Wednesday 6th March (5pm - 7:30pm)

Houses of Parliament 

Westminster

Hosted by: John McDonnell MP & Chris Stephens MP

6th March 2019 is exactly ten years since The Consulting Association blacklist of union members in the building industry was exposed.  BSG is holding a 10th Anniversary meeting in parliament to celebrate the successes of our campaign, but also to highlight the injustices that still need to be put right.  It started out as an industrial relations issue, it's now turned into a human rights conspiracy involving multinational companies and the police. 

We guarantee that important new information will be put into the public domain at this meeting.  We will be using this as a means of telling politicians what we want to see in future election manifestos. 

All blacklisted workers and supporters welcome.

Please circulate. 

More details to follow once speakers are confirmed (a small part of the meeting will act as the BSG AGM). 

Blacklist Support Group

book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNcgrNs6pB8

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog