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.

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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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.      

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*  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.'

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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.

Double-dealing & union blackballs?

UCATT was the trade union that merged with Unite in January 2017.  It was also the union that had allegedly full-time union officers who according to the current Private Eye 'shopped their "comrades",' and 'Blackleg', in the same journal writes:  'Two years ago, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey and assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail promised an inquiry into union officials' collusion with the big building firms - but there's still no sign of it.'

In December 2016, an open letter signed by blacklisted construction workers was circulated:

'.... one issue threatens to cause internal friction: possible union collusion in blacklisting.
Some years ago, both UCATT and UNITE carried out internal investigations into possible union involvement in blacklisting. But that was at a time when barely any of the documentation was available.
'Since the High Court, all that has changed. The employers were forced to provide witness statements and disclose 40 years worth of documentary evidence. It is now in the public domain that officials in both unions were recorded as the source of information on Economic League and Consulting Association blacklist files. Some of those named, remain senior officials in UNITE and UCATT to this day. Every union activist in construction knows who the named officials are, as does every major employer.'

Gail Cartmail had called for a 'full public inquiry with judicial authority'.  

Now Private Eye reveals:  'The joint head of Unite Construction, formed in January 2017 when Ucatt trade union merged with Unite, is Jerry Swain, who is also a Unite national officer.  Despite the tardiness of Unite, scores of blacklisted trade unionists have received compenstation, having taken their cases to the high court.  Among them was bricklayer Brian Higgins who presented evidence to the court in pre-hearings that union officials were the source of information given to construction firms about union activities in 1992, 2002 and 2003.'

Private Eye adds:   'Although the officials' names were redacted in pre-hearings of the high court case, Higgins subsequently obtained an unredacted copy of his file.  Among those who were said to have shopped their "comrades" was one, er, Jerry Swain, from 1991 to 2016 the London and South East regional secretary of Ucatt.  Just fancy that!'

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Blacklisted Workers Win £1.9m from Building firms

OVER 50 trade unionists have won compensation totalling £1.9m after major construction firms admitted that they had been unlawfully blacklisted and denied work.

The compensation will be paid by the firms after they agreed out of court settlements with the workers, avoiding a high court trial that was due to start next month.

The latest round of payments means that in total, the firms have been forced in the last three years to pay compensation of £35m to more than 1,200 blacklisted workers.

The firms checked the files when individual workers applied for jobs. Those deemed by the firms to be troublemakers were refused work.  The workers were not told why they had been rejected. Some of them had raised health and safety concerns on building sites.

The files were housed in a nondescript office in Droitwich, Worcestershire, under the bland name of the Consulting Association.  A decade ago, following an article in the Guardian, the official watchdog, the Information Commissioner, raided the office and closed down the blacklist, declaring it illegal.

The Information Commissioner made the files available to the blacklisted workers, who then launched legal action.

The eight firms announced on Tuesday that their offers of compensation had been accepted by the latest group of 53 blacklisted workers. They are Sir Robert McAlpine, Balfour Beatty, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Skanska UK, Vinci and Carillion.
  
The eight firms are locked in a dispute with Amec Foster Wheeler, as they argue it was involved in running the blacklist and should therefore pay a contribution towards the bill.
Unite had sought to force Cullum McAlpine, whom they consider to be a key architect of the blacklist, to give evidence at the trial, which was due to start on 4 June. The McAlpine director was also chairman of the Consulting Association when the blacklist was set up.

Howard Beckett of the Unite union said it was 'bitterly disappointing' that he would not be compelled to be cross-examined at the trial, which has been dropped as part of the settlements.

Police chiefs have admitted that they also supplied details of trade unionists to the blacklist in what they acknowledge was a 'potentially improper flow' of information.

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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."

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Unite aim to put blacklister in Court

RISKS Number 887:
RISKS is the TUC's weekly online bulletin for safety reps and others sponsored by Thompsons Solicitors.   Sign up to receive this bulletin every week.  Past issues are available. Disclaimer and Privacy Editor: Rory O'Neill of Hazards magazine.  Comments to the TUC at healthandsafety@tuc.org.uk.  SENT TO NV by Joe Bailey:
A CONSTRUCTION boss who played a pivotal role in orchestrating a blacklisting scandal that targeted union safety activists will face the courts, the union Unite has pledged.   The union said it “is closing in” on Cullum McAlpine who it wants to account for his actions in court. Unite is taking fresh legal action on behalf of workers who were blacklisted by the Consulting Association.  Most of the major construction companies in the UK used the illegal service.   Unlike the previous court case which concluded in 2016, Unite says it will be seeking to ensure Cullum McAlpine, the original chair of the Consulting Association and a director of UK construction giant Sir Robert McAlpine, is required to give evidence in court under oath. The trial is set to begin on 4 June and could last for six weeks.

Unite assistant general secretary Howard Beckett said: “Unite is totally committed to ensuring that the key individuals behind blacklisting workers and ruining their lives as a result are required to account for their crimes in the public arena of a court.”   He added: “This is the minimum that the affected workers deserve.   They need to see those responsible in the dock and finally forced to account for their actions.   The forthcoming court case will finally ensure this will happen.”   

Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail said: “There remain employers in construction and other industries who continue to believe it is somehow acceptable to engage in the disgusting and deceitful practice of blacklisting, to ruin people’s lives.  We are seeing blacklisting ‘outsourced’ to labour suppliers at the beck and call of large firms and acting as unaccountable instigators of union busting.  That’s why Unite is still fighting for justice for those who were previously affected but is also fighting to stamp out contemporary blacklisting.”

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

Police admit role in construction blacklist scandal

 sent by Trevor Hoyle (Rochdale)

THE Metropolitan Police has confirmed undercover Special Branch officers supplied information to the construction industry blacklist.

Blacklisted workers have fought tirelessly to expose wrongdoing photo

The admission follows a campaign by blacklisted workers to prove they were spied on by the police.

It comes in a letter sent by Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Richard Martin in response to a complaint made by the Blacklist Support Group to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

The letter states: “Allegation: Police, including Special Branches, supplied information that appeared on the Blacklist, funded by the country’s major construction firms, The Consulting Association and/or other agencies, in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. 

“The Report concludes that, on the balance of probabilities, the allegation that the police or Special Branches supplied information is ‘Proven’. 

The letter goes on to explain: “Sections of the policing community throughout the UK had both overt and covert contact with external organization, including the Economic League” 

It also conformed an “improper flow of information from Special Branch to external organisations, which ultimately appeared on the Blacklist”.

The blacklist scandal has seen more than £75m in compensation paid to workers by major contractors.

Allegations of police collusion in blacklisting were first made back in 2012 but the claims were strenuously denied by the authorities.

MP John McDonnell said: “It is now abundantly clear that various arms of the state including the Police colluded in the blacklisting process.

“This is one of the hidden scandals of the abuse of civil liberties in our country that needs to be recognised fully and addressed. The people involved need to be brought to book.” 

Dave Smith, secretary of the Blacklist Support Group said: “When we first talked about police collusion in blacklisting, people thought we were conspiracy theorists.

“We were told, ‘things like that don’t happen here’. With this admission from the Met Police, our quest for the truth has been vindicated.”

“The police are supposed to detect crime, instead they infiltrated trade unions and provided intelligence to an unlawful corporate conspiracy.”

Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail, said: “This is a major breakthrough the police have finally been forced to admit what we already knew that they were knowingly and actively involved in the blacklisting of construction workers.”

http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2018/03/23/police-admit-role-in-construction-blacklist-scandal/

Dave Smith, the excellent representative for his union members, was interviewed (fairly) by Sarah Montague on Radio 4 this morning. I will put the link up later. 

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Scot Labour Boss to crack down on blacklisting

based on information supplied by Joe Bailey.

SCOTTISH Labour leader Richard Leonard claims he will crackdown on outsourcing and blacklisting.  In a speech to the Scottish Labour conference as the party’s leader in Scotland, he condemned firms that exploited and blacklisted workers. 
 
'Our strategy will ensure that we stop once and for all giving millions of pounds of public money in subsidies to exploitative tax-avoiding companies like Amazon down the road in Dunfermline,' he said. 
 
'And that we stop awarding billions of pounds of public procurement contracts to companies which don’t pay a living wage, which use zero-hours contracts and which blacklist workers. So, we meet in Dundee and we applaud the redevelopment of the waterfront, but we condemn the use of a blacklisting company to do it.' 
 
Construction giants BAM and Sir Robert McAlpine have harvested major contracts out of the redevelopment, which includes a new branch of the V&A museum.  Both were backers of the undercover blacklisting organisation the Consulting Association, which was exposed in 2009 for running an illegal blacklist of trade union activists, often targeted for their workplace safety activities.

The  announcement of the victory of Leonard last November, was considered at the time another  triumph for Jeremy Corbyn.  It is believed the Unite union played a significant role in this.

This week saw yet another Corbyn prefered candidate appointed as Labour's general secretary when Jennie Formby, an official from the Unite union.  She defeated Christine Blower, former general secretary of the National Union of Teachers.

Jim Pickard in the Financial Times today described the Ms. Formby triumph thus:
'Ms. Formby's victory ..... demonstrated how comfortable Mr. Corbyn is with Unite, Britain's largest union, controlling many posts in his operation.'

Madam Formby is seen by some as a bit of a brute in the office and some of the staff have been quick to throw in the towel in as soon as it was known she'd got the job.

It also seems that Momentum  has some misgivings about the dominant influence of Unite.  Momentum wants a wider reflection of views within the party than the union base.

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Leaked ledgers confirm Carillion’s blacklisting

                                     sent to NV by Joe Bailey (Unite) 
FAILED construction giant Carillion was a major supporter of an illegal blacklisting outfit that targeted safety activists and trade union reps, leaked documents have confirmed.  The firm has been linked to blacklisting for years, with the Scottish Affairs Select Committee in 2013 publishing evidence about how Carillion liaised with the blacklisting agency, the Consulting Association, either directly or via its subsidiaries.  Six managers directly involved with the association were named in the document.  Subsequently, the GMB union estimated that from October 1999 to April 2004 Carillion checked at least 14,724 names against files illegally held by the covert blacklister. Invoices and sales book records, seized by the Information Commissioner’s Office during a raid in 2009, showed that Carillion paid £37,814.72 to the Consulting Association between 1999 and 2006.  This month the Canary obtained the Consulting Association’s entire set of ledgers, which confirmed Carillion’s routine payments for data from the Consulting Association files. Dave Smith, joint secretary of the Blacklist Support Group, said: “Carillion blacklisted me after I raised concerns about safety on their building sites; it ended up in the European Court of Human Rights. At the very same time the company were milking public sector contracts including in the NHS. Not another penny of taxpayers’ money should be given to these wretches. 
In May 2015, Carillion, together with several other construction companies, agreed on a payout of around £80m in compensation to almost 800 blacklisted workers.

Ÿ  The Canary. The Metro.

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TAMESIDE TWEETS OR TWITS?

LAST week Tameside Councillors were daggers drawn in the wake of the Carillion affair.  The Tory Doreen Dickenson wrote on Twitter:

Doreen Dickinson‏ @DorDic1 Jan 17

'Nobody is friendlier with Carillion than Tameside MBC Labour controlled for 39 yrs.'

To which Councillor Ryan for the Labour administration made a remarkable retorted:  
'Tameside Council has had NO direct contracts with Carillion'

Weasel Words

Those of us who have read the responses of the Consulting Association administrator Ian Kerr, will remember his reply to a question at the Scottish Affairs Select Committee about his links to the Security Services.  Mr Kerr, who had previously pleaded guilty at Knutsford Crown Court to managing an illegal data base or blacklist, said; 'We had no direct contacts' (or words to that effect).  When he was then asked 'did you have any indirect contacts with the Security Services', the Chairman intervened and that query was never answered.  Mr Kerr's methods of blacklisting building workers were described in a recent book by Professor Rhidri Jeffreys-Jones* as 'effective but primitive'.

The methods of the former boss of Tameside MBC, Kieran Quinn and the Labour Council can be clearly seen as more sophisticated, and because he was a Labour coucillor and a trade unionist he could get away with murder forming cosy relationships with companies like Carillion.

The current protestations of the Tameside Labour councillors he has left behind following his well timed exit on Christmas Day, leaves them sounding like the chorus in a Comic Opera

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 *  'WE KNOW ALL ABOUT YOU - The Story of Surveillance in Britain and America', published by Oxford University Press

Instirute of Employment Rights for blacklist inquiry

14 December 2017:
A new report published by independent think tank the Institute of Employment Rights recommends a public inquiry is conducted into the blacklisting scandal, and sets out a 'Manifesto Against Blacklisting', proposing changes to the law, including criminal sanctions for employers operating blacklists.
It has been eight years since the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) raid of blacklist operation The Consulting Association found evidence that thousands of workers had been locked out of employment in the construction industry for such reasons as highlighting dangerous working practices or being a member of a trade union.
Despite continued legal action, justice has not yet been served, with Unite the Union now seeking compensation for 70 further workers who did not benefit from previous out-of-court settlements, and new evidence of continued blacklisting in the construction industry being debated in parliament.
In the latest IER publication – Blacklisting: The need for a public inquiry – Secretary of the Blacklist Support Group, Dave Smith, maps out the barriers to justice experienced by workers, both in terms of accessing the tribunal system and in securing a guilty verdict for their former employers. He emphasises that what the thousands of victims of blacklisting want the most is for the individuals responsible for their plight to be publically held to account.
"It's been an ongoing fight for decades and the end still seems distant," Dave Smith, Secretary of the Blacklist Support Group and co-author of the report, said. "Before the 2009 ICO raid that finally proved us right, we were labelled conspiracy theorists, and even after we had the evidence it was an uphill struggle to be heard in court.
"Even for those who eventually received compensation, money alone is not justice.  Blacklisted workers spent years of their lives struggling to make ends meet, with many reporting to me that the strain stretched beyond finances, to their families and relationships, their mental health, their social lives."
What blacklisted workers most want to see is the individuals responsible for their suffering to be held to account.  We want a full public inquiry to investigate the truth behind what happened, and we want a change in the law to prevent other workers from going through what we have."
The publication concludes with a Manifesto Against Blacklisting drafted by employment law expert Alex Just, who makes several recommendations for changes in the law. Key recommendations include:

• Criminal sanctions for employers that illegally blacklist workers, including personal criminal liability for staff who knowingly blacklist
• A 10-year ban on holding a directorship for any person found guilty of blacklisting
• A ban from public contracts for firms that illegally blacklist workers
• Compulsory training for HR directors and staff on the law around blacklisting
• Stronger powers for the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to investigate cases of suspected blacklisting
• The establishment of a new UK Data Court to consider civil and criminal charges jointly so that judges are able to hear all of the evidence pertaining to a case
  

"It is clear that the law as it stands is not robust enough to protect workers or to bring those operating illegal blacklists to account. Not only is there still a requirement for further legal action eight years on, but the employers involved continue to make billions in profit from public contracts having been able to evade being found officially 'guilty' of acts they have publically admitted to," employment law expert and co-author of the report, Alex Just, explains.
"A thorough examination of the obstacles faced by blacklisted workers over the last eight years has revealed several key factors that we recommend are reviewed and changed in order to prevent another years-long scandal being dragged through the courts in the future. The law must provide justice to those workers who have lost years of their lives, and it must act as a deterrent to the secret continuation of blacklisting by holding those responsible to account."
 Ÿ  IER news release

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Blacklisting new claim in High Court

UNITE launches new blacklisting claim at High Court

Blacklist Support Group

Today, 14:53

Unite the Union has today launched a new blacklisting claim at the High Court. This time around they have named key individuals at the centre of The Consulting Association scandal as defendants including; Cullum McAlpine, David Cochrane (from Sir Robert McAlpine), Danny O'Sullivan (Kier) and Stephen Quant (Skanska), with the intention that these senior executives who orchestrated the conspiracy will be forced to account for their actions.

Following the settlement of the original High Court litigation in 2016, blacklisted workers have repeatedly stated that 'compensation is not the same as justice' and called for the union to use every means possible to ensure that directors of multi-national construction companies behind blacklisting were brought before a court. Blacklist Support Group fully endorses the new litigation and hopes that given that the costs risks have now been substantially reduced, this time around the guilty parties will be forced into a full trial. The sooner the better. 

Roy Bentham, secretary Blacklist Support Group commented:  "Blacklisting of union members and those prepared to stand up for basic legal entitlements is not just a breach of the law it is a violation of human rights. It is not just in the construction industry: blacklisting takes place in the NHS, in the North Sea and increasingly in the so-called gig economy where the lack of employment rights means the bosses continue to get away with it. This epidemic of victimization needs to be sorted out once and for all".    

The announcement comes in the same week as the Day of Action on Blacklisting that will see protests and lobbies of parliament across the UK.

Day of Action - Wed 6th December - please show solidarity at whichever protest you can get along to:

London

09:00 - Skanska office, Goswell Road, Barbican, London 

12:00 - Westminster lobby of parliament and rally 

Edingbugh 

9:30 - Meet at Unite Edinburgh Office
10:00 - Protest at St James Centre 
12:00 - Lobby the Scottish Parliament 

Leeds

08:00 - 10:00 City Square, Leeds, LS1 2, United Kingdom

Brighton

10am - Balfour Beatty, Sussex University, Brighton, BN1 9RH 

Birmingham

12.00 - McAlpine site Exchange Square, Urban Village Site, Gate 4, Dale End, B4 7LN

Durham 

17:00 - McAlpine site, Durham city centre (Milburngate shopping centre).

Video of the previous Day of Action on Blacklisting in 2013:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avH1GhXRwaI&feature=youtu.be

Press coverage of the new High Court claim:

https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/04/union-launches-new-legal-action-over-blacklisting-of-builders

http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/unite-to-bring-leading-blacklisters-to-court/

http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/12/04/unite-launches-new-round-of-blacklisting-legal-action/

And finally, BSG would like to send our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Tommy Finn R.I.P.

Former chair of the Construction Safety Campaign, convenor of Hackney DLO in the 1990s, blacklisted and spied on by undercover police for standing up for the rights of his fellow workers. 

http://irishpost.co.uk/champion-for-irish-construction-workers-in-britain-tommy-finn-dies/

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

Unite decrys McAlpine's ethical standard award

Unite sent the report below to Northern Voices:

THE Unite [union], the UK’s largest construction union, has described the awarding of an ethical labour standard to leading blacklisting company Sir Robert McAlpine as ‘shocking and disgusting’.
This week Sir Robert McAlpine became the first construction contractor to be awarded the ‘Ethical Labour Sourcing’ standard by the Building Research Establishment (BRE).
Sir Robert McAlpine was at the centre of the Consulting Association blacklisting operation, supplying both the first and final chairman of the organisation and being one of the principal users of the blacklisting process which ruined the lives of thousands of workers.
The Consulting Association existed to enable companies to check the names of potential recruits (frequently workers recruited via employment agencies) against a central list.
Unite is currently suing Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd on behalf of victims of blacklisting having already secured millions of pounds in compensation for blacklisted workers from firms involved in the Consulting Association.
The award of the ethical labour standards to Sir Robert McAlpine is also controversial as 74 MPs have signed an early day motion calling on the company to be stripped of the contracts to refurbish Big Ben and the Elizabeth Tower because of its involvement in blacklisting.
Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail said: “Awarding an ethical standard for labour sourcing to Sir Robert McAlpine is both shocking and disgusting. There is nothing ethical about blacklisting workers and ruining their lives.
“Sir Robert McAlpine was at the forefront of the Consulting Association ruining workers’ lives by blacklisting them and the victims of those practices will be very distressed to learn that its recruitment practices are now being lauded.
“While BRE’s intentions to monitor and improve the recruitment of construction workers should have been a step forward, the organisation has shot itself in the foot by glossing over the stench of blacklisting which permeates from Sir Robert McAlpine.”

Shock 'ethical award' for blacklist company

  Sent to Northern Voices by Joe Bailey with additions by NV

AN ethical labour standard award to a leading blacklisting company Sir Robert McAlpine has been described as ‘shocking and disgusting’ by the construction union Unite. In October, the company became the first construction contractor to be awarded the ‘Ethical Labour Sourcing’ standard by the Building Research Establishment (BRE).  But Unite says Sir Robert McAlpine was at the centre of the Consulting Association blacklisting operation, supplying both the first and final chair of the organisation and being one of the principal users of the blacklisting process which ruined the lives of thousands of workers, many targeted for raising safety concerns.  Unite is currently suing Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd on behalf of victims of blacklisting, having already secured millions of pounds in compensation for blacklisted workers from firms involved with the Consulting Association. 

 

The Unite union says its concerns about the firm have been reinforced by MPs, with 75 signing an early day motion calling on the company to be stripped of the contracts to refurbish Big Ben and the Elizabeth Tower because of its involvement in blacklisting (Risks 822).

Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail said:
‘Awarding an ethical standard for labour sourcing to Sir Robert McAlpine is both shocking and disgusting.  There is nothing ethical about blacklisting workers and ruining their lives.’

She added: ‘While BRE’s intentions to monitor and improve the recruitment of construction workers should have been a step forward, the organisation has shot itself in the foot by glossing over the stench of blacklisting which permeates from Sir Robert McAlpine.’

The Ethical Labour Standard award created by the British Research Establishment, a certification and standards firm, in response to the Modern Slavery Act 2015.   The standard aims to verify firms that apply the proper due diligence around human rights and ethical concerns when sourcing materials, products and service.

Sir Robert McAlpine, whose projects have included the 2012 Olympic Stadium*, Bloomberg’s new London headquarters and Victoria Gate retail development in Leeds among others, are already leading the sector in its approach to sustainability and ethical sourcing.

Responding to the award Paul Hamer, chief executive of Sir Robert McAlpine, said:  'Forced labour can have no place on Britain’s construction projects; it is an unseen and evil practice that must be stopped.
“Our business is working incredibly hard to demonstrate that Sir Robert McAlpine will not tolerate it and this ELS accreditation is testament to our commitment.'

Force labour may well be unpleasant, but what of its opposite 'forced unemployment' in the British building trade?   The evidence shows that the company Sir Robert McAlpine did for years finance the Consulting Association which engaged in the blacklisting of workers.  

Force labour may well be 'an unseen and evil practice that must be stopped', but isn't blacklisting mostly unseen?  Isn't blacklisting unseen carried out by furtive firms with nosey Human Resources staff and sleek, spying secretaries like the Consulting Association's boss Ian Kerr's wife?  

One of the directors of Sir Robert McAlpine is Cullum McAlpine, who was one of the defendants eight of the contractors involved in the High Court blacklisting trial have apologised “unreservedly” after they admitted using the secret database to vet workers.

Executives at the company, including Cullum McAlpine, a director and member of its founding family, were allegedly 'intimately' involved in the operation of a 'clandestine' organisation holding a list of people barred from the industry.

Mr. McAlpine was in communication with Ian Kerr, the director of the Consulting Association (TCA), the organisation which held the list on behalf of construction firms, up until it was dissolved, it is alleged.

It is further claimed that Kerr, when he was exposed and prosecuted in 2009, was warned of possible commercial repercussions for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd if Cullum McAlpine's name emerged in public.

Cullum McAlpine has already admitted before a House of Commons committee three years ago that he was the founding chairman of the Consulting Association, the organisation that grew out of the ashes of the Economic League in 1993 to manage a list of construction workers considered ‘subversives’ and a risk to employers.   He admitted that he was responsible for the commercial success of the blacklisting operation.   However, he said that if there were names on the list that should not have been on the list, it was nothing to do with him or his company, as he merely used the service and was not in charge of running it.

 Never-the-less, the Scottish Affairs Select Committee that questioned Cullum McAlpine, declared that Mr. McAlpine's company ought not to be awarded public contracts.  His company pleaded guilty to Breach of Confidence; Misuse of private information; Defamation; Conspiracy; and Breach of Data Protection.

The defendants which included Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and VINCI – said their use of a secret database to screen potential employees 'infringed workers’ rights to confidentiality, privacy, reputation and, latterly, data protection'.

A statement issued jointly by the firms, known as the Macfarlanes defendants, added: 
'We accept that this had consequences for affected workers in terms of loss of employment, refusal of work, reduction in earnings and an impact on their personal lives.'

At a hearing yesterday, construction companies represented by Macfarlanes solicitors – Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and VINCI – said their use of a secret database to screen potential employees 'infringed workers’ rights to confidentiality, privacy, reputation and, latterly, data protection'.

A statement issued jointly by the firms, known as the Macfarlanes defendants, added:  'We accept that this had consequences for affected workers in terms of loss of employment, refusal of work, reduction in earnings and an impact on their personal lives.'

The trade union Unite said the confession that the workers on the list had been defamed was 'groundbreaking' and opened the door to larger payouts that could total tens of millions of pounds.

The ethical award that the company Sir Robert McAlpine has now received is assessed on 12 issue areas: Organisational Structure, Management Structure, HR, Procurement, Bribery & Corruption, Forums, Management Policies, Immigration, Supply Chain Management, Learning & Development, Reporting and Assurance & Compliance.
Sir Robert McAlpine’s most notable projects include the 2012 Olympic Stadium, Bloomberg’s new London headquarters and Victoria Gate retail development in Leeds.


*   24 January 2013 - The Institute of Employment Rights website:
Director of Sir Robert McAlpine Cullum McAlpine admitted using a blacklist to recruit for large public projects including the Olympics.
As a witness brought in front of the Scottish Affairs Committee, which is currently running an inquiry into blacklisting, Mr McAlpine claimed ignorance or a poor memory over many of the key issues, but confessed to heavy use of the Consulting Association's blacklist during 2008.
However, he stated that McAlpine was not using the blacklist to look for trade unionist activity, but to look for illegal migrants following a raid on one of its sites in previous years.
In fact, Mr McAlpine denied that his company - or any of Consulting Association's members - intended to use the blacklist to weed-out trade unionists and workers who were members of left-wing parties.

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