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

MPs demand blacklisting mastermind be stripped of Big Ben public contract!

Book Review - by Derek Pattison

Blacklisted: The Full Story The Secret War Between Big Business and Union Activists

Author: Dave Smith and Phil Chamberlain

This is the second edition of Blacklisted with the full story to date including the 

historic High Court victory and new revelations. Now with photographs.

* Buy print version:

• £9.99

 New Internationalist

The Old Music Hall

106-108 Cowley Rd

Oxford, OX4 1JE  UK

01865 403345

IT’s now over two-years ago since I first reviewed ‘Blacklisted – The Secret War Between Big Business and Union Activists’ by Dave Smith and Phil Chamberlain.  This new, second edition, ‘The Full Story’, deals with two major developments in the 18-months since the first edition of ‘Blacklisted’ was published.   One is the outcome of proceedings in the High Court against the so-called MacFarlanes Defendants and the other, is the ‘Pitchford Public Inquiry’, which is investigating undercover policing.  During the High Court proceedings, further evidence of blacklisting was disclosed and some of this has now been used in this book.

For people who are unfamiliar with this story of blacklisting of workers in the construction industry, which involved collusion between the state and the construction industry, it is perhaps necessary to say something about how this grossly illegal operation was discovered and exposed.

On 11 May 2016, in the High Court, in London, a public apology was made and an agreed joint statement was read out on behalf of a group of major British construction companies including – Balfour Beatty companies, Carillion, Costain, Kier Ltd, Laing companies, Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, Skanska UK, Vinci and Taylor Woodrow, and various individual defendants including, Cullum McAlpine, Danny O’Sullivan, David Cochrane and Stephen Quant. 

All these companies and individuals, known as the ‘MacFarlanes Defendants’ were apologising for having set up a secret and unlawful ‘Vetting Operation’ and database, also known as a ‘Blacklist’, to vet particular workers applying for jobs in the construction industry. 

We now know that the in-house lawyer for Laing O’Rourke, Paul Field, resigned his job on 9 March 2009 shortly after the discovery of the blacklist describing the operation as ‘Orwellian’ and ‘third-rate McCarthyism’.  In a witness statement, Field said that “he found the idea that people were denied work simply because they had joined a safety committee ‘repugnant’.

A large number of construction workers, in a group litigation, who were members of the trade unions UCATT, GMB, or clients of the law firm, Guney, Clark & Ryan, brought claims against them for “breach of confidence, misuse of private information, defamation, conspiracy and breach of the Data Protection Act 1998.” 

Although liability had been initially denied by the Defendants, they admitted to having set up a secret scheme for vetting construction workers who were seeking employment in the industry between the early 1970s and 2009.  The secret operation went under the name of the ‘Services Group’, which was part of the notorious ‘Economic League’ and later, it became known as the “The Consulting Association.”   The database included details on individuals such as:


“Names, dates of birth, addresses, NI numbers, trade, employers’ names, alleged employment history, suspected political affiliations or sympathies or perceived militancy, trade union affiliation and activities, and complaints about health-and-safety or breaches of employment rights. "

This database was seized following a raid on the offices of The Consulting Association (TCA) in February 2009, by officers working for the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). Over 3,000 files were confiscated which included details of construction workers and other individuals, including academics, lawyers, politicians and environmental activists.  These files represented only around 5 to 10 per cent of the information held by TCA at their office in Droitwich, Worcestershire.  In July 2009, the ‘data controller’, Ian Kerr, was fined £5,000 by Knutsford Crown Court, for operating an illegal database.  Kerr’s fine and legal costs were all paid by the construction firm Sir Robert McAlpine, who had set up this blacklisting operation. 

We now know that British Telecom (BT) had provided details about the location of Kerr’s address, only after being threatened with legal action by the ICO.  The ICO had previously raided the offices of Hayden Young – part of the Balfour Beatty group - in Watford in August 2008 and had obtained a fax number. When, following the raid at the offices of TCA,  Kerr’s wife, Mary Kerr, had asked why her husband had not been tipped off about the raid at Hayden Young, six months previously, she received a solicitor’s letter asking her to desist in her questioning. 

In a witness statement that was submitted to the High Court by Gerry Harvey, HR director for Balfour Beatty and a TCA contact for the firm, he disclosed that both he and his colleague, Armar Johnston – another TCA contact at Balfour Beatty – had been ordered not to disclose details of the raid at Hayden Young to Ian Kerr, by the Group Human Resources Director, Paul Raby, because he feared legal repercussions.  Both Harvey and Johnston were told to have no further involvement with TCA.

Gail Cartmail, a trade union officer with Unite the Union, told MPs at a Select Committee of the House of Commons that Gerry Harvey “has form on blacklisting.”   Despite being a TCA contact at Balfour Beatty, Harvey wrote to an Employment Tribunal in 2008, denying there was a ‘blacklist’ and suggested that the litigant, Colin Trousdale, was “paranoid.” Never the less, on the first page of Trousdale’s blacklisting TCA file, it was noted: “Trousdale is taking us to the Tribunal.”  Outside the offices of Balfour Beatty Engineering Services (BBES), in Glasgow, Trousdale told protestors: “Being a trade union member is not a crime: perjury is.”


An email found on Gerry Harvey’s laptop (exhibit in High Court), from Elaine Gallagher of Balfour Kilpatrick, dated 16/3/2009, a month after the ICO raid on TCA, says: 
'The email includes attached list of workers recorded as Not Required or code 11 ‘do not employ’ and an internal database kept by Balfour Beatty.'
In his witness statement, Harvey went on to name:  
'Andrew Alison, Michael Shortall, Colin Trousdale, Danny Regan, Steve Acheson, Graham Bowker, Tony Jones, Sean Keaveney, Robert McKechan and Howard Nolan, as workers who appear on the internal database as unsuitable for employment.   
'They are also all blacklisted by TCA for their union activities… Harvey does reassure the court that ‘regardless of the Consulting Association checking service neither I nor my staff would have employed Acheson, Bowker or  Jones, given their very high profile’.'
(Exhibit for High Court – see also “Boys on the Blacklist” by Derek Pattison and Brian Bamford).

Despite three separate instructions to retain potentially relevant documents in March 2009, March 2013 and April 2013, Dinah Rose QC, told the High Court in January 2016, that the defendants were responsible for the deliberate destruction, non-provision and concealment of evidence.

“We can show that the defendants have destroyed documents systematically from the date of the ICO raid onwards in an effort to conceal their guilt.”

In a note of a telephone conversation he’d had with David Cochrane, Chairman of TCA at the time of the raid, Kerr records that he was instructed to: “Ring everyone, cease trading, close down. We don’t exist anymore, destroy data, stop processing.”

Although a multi-million pound compensation settlement was shared between 771 workers - Unite £10.5m, UCATT, £8.9m, GMB £5.4m and GC Ryan £6.6m, with costs paid by the companies estimated at between £75m and £250m, many blacklisted construction workers do not feel that they ever received justice.  There was no trial and none of the construction bosses was ever put in the dock or cross-examined.  To this day, not one of the construction bosses or so-called HR professionals who engaged in a prolonged period of illegal activity in running a secret blacklisting operation, have ever been prosecuted  for their squalid activities.  The only person to be prosecuted was Ian Kerr, who told the Scottish Affairs Select Committee in November 2012 – “I took the flak so they wouldn’t be drawn into all of this. They would remain hidden if you like…”  Nor has there been much appetite on the part of the Conservative government, for a public inquiry into this matter.  Many of these construction companies are major financial backers of the Tory Party.  Only five blacklist cases ever reached a full employment tribunal and only three won their claims.  Most cases were dismissed as being ‘out-of-time’ or on the grounds of employment status such as agency workers.

Likewise, many people who found themselves ‘blacklisted’, remain convinced that blacklisting is still going on. Since the TCA raid in February 2009, there has been evidence of blacklisting taking place at Crossrail and the Olympics and workers like the electrician Dan Collins, continue to get sacked for raising concerns about health and safety. In December 2016, Elizabeth Denham, the Information Commissioner, re-opened the file on the construction industry stating that she feared that the 'malpractice' (blacklisting) was still taking place. She said her staff and been put on a 'watching brief.'

In July 2015, the Home Secretary announced the terms of the ‘Pitchford Inquiry’ into undercover policing and the ‘Blacklist Support Group’ (BSG), have been given ‘core participant’ status.   In March 2012, David Clancy, investigation’s manager for the ICO and a former police officer, told The Observer that some of the information held in the TCA files could only have come from the police or security services. The police watchdog, the IPCC, have already told the BSG that Special Branch had “routinely provided information about prospective employees” and that, “It is likely that all Special Branches were involved in providing information that kept certain individuals out of work.”  This was denied by the police inquiry ‘Operation Herne’, who said there was no such evidence.

In October 2014, John McDonnell MP, named detective chief inspector Gordon Mills, head of police liaison at the ‘National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit’ (NECTU), as a senior officer who had given a power point presentation at a meeting of TCA held in Oxford in 2008.  Although Mills admitted his attendance and presentation, he said it was a ‘misunderstanding’ and that he hadn’t realized it was a meeting of TCA.  Following a newspaper article in the ‘London Evening Standard’, Mills: 


“sent letters via his lawyers, Slater and Gordon, who represent the Police Federation, threatening to sue McDonnell, the Guardian, the GMB union (*) and two small websites, Union Solidarity International and Northern Voices. None of those who received threatening letters apologized for linking DCI Mills with the blacklisting meeting or paid him any money. All legal actions subsequently ran out of time.”

If Mr. Kerr was the monkey behind the Consulting Association, then, Cullum McAlpine was the organ grinder.   The Association was run under his leadership and guidance to “provide a blacklisting service” (Scottish Affairs Select Committee – Blacklisting in Employment, sixth report). In January 2016, Dinah Rose QC told the High Court:
“Cullum McAlpine is a very senior, very important man. It is very important that he should not be seen to have got away with what was clearly a protracted period of unlawful activity which it is plain that Mr. Cochrane was seeking to cover up.”

This is why some MPs and blacklisted construction workers are now demanding that Sir Robert McAlpine be stripped of the £29m four year prestigious refurbishment contract of the Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben. Shadow minister for labour, Jack Dromey, said: 


“There has to be consequences for historic blacklisting, it is scandal that the iconic Big Ben contract has been given to that company (Sir Robert McAlpine).” 

(*) Editors note: since publishing this book review we have been made aware of the following:
'In August 2017, GMB posted a clarification on their website stating that union "did not intend to suggest that Mr Mills was directly responsible for the Consulting Association's blacklisting" accepting that "he was not knowingly involved in" information passing between the police and the Consulting Association used to blacklist workers'. http://www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/newsroom/gordon-mills-crocodile-tears.html

Blacklist Trial on 7th, June

IN the High Court yesterday (Wed 4th May), Lord Justice Supperstone ruled that the blacklisting High Court trial start date will be postponed until 7th June. This is after Anthony Hudson QC representing the remaining UNITE claimants requested the delay.  The multi-million pound settlement of several hundred claimants last Friday means that Guney, Clark & Ryan solicitors, GMB and UCATT have now withdrawn from the group litigation, meaning Thompsons solicitors will now have to carry out all of the tasks which until last week had been divided between all 4 legal teams.  

The confirmation of the new timetable means that Cullum McAlpine, the disgraced businessman at the centre of the blacklist scandal, will be forced to give evidence on Tuesday 21st June.  The public and press gallery will be packed for that day of the show trial - especially after McAlpine refused to answer so many pertinent questions when appearing before a Select Committee investigation into blacklisting in 2013. 

In total there are 97 UNITE claimants still involved in the litigation including 7 lead cases that will be used to assess the value of the compensation for all remaining blacklisted workers in the litigation. The High Court was also told that there is one blacklisted construction worker who is now participating in the trial as a 'litigant in person'.

It was also confirmed that the Information Commissioners Office has only in the past day or so released further additional documents seized during the 2009 raid on the notorious Consulting Association as part of a Third Party Disclosure Order.  This evidence was supposed to have been fully disclosed years ago - not less than a week before the trial was due to start. 

Steve Kelly, blacklisted electrician from Essex and Blacklist Support Group co-chair commented:

'My claim is still live in the High Court and I cannot wait to see Cullum McAlpine squirm in the dock. In his lust for profit, that pillar of the establishment has violated our human rights:  he deserves to pay for what he has inflicted upon our families.

'The British legal system has always been stacked in favour of big business and because of the destruction of mountains of documents, some blacklisted workers have been forced to accept settlements that fall a long way short of justice. But our fight has never just been about compensation. 

'Even to this day, workers are victimised for standing up for their basic legal rights by the very same companies that have publicly apologised for their role in the blacklist.  We demand jobs for blacklisted workers on major projects.  We demand our rights on sites.  Until we get proper justice, we will mobilise to fight them industrially and campaign politically for a public inquiry.  I make a promise, whatever happens in the High Court, the fight against blacklisting isn't over.' 

Unite statement on High Court ‘blacklisting’ trial adjournment

Unite director of legal services, Howard Beckett said: 

'Unite applied for an adjournment at the High Court today (Wednesday 4 May) and this was granted by Lord Justice Supperstone until Tuesday 7 June.  The reason for the application was that the four claimant teams have now become one which meant that it was impractical for the trial, estimated to take 11 weeks, to start on Monday 9 May. In addition, some late disclosure has come in from the Information Commissioner’s Office and this evidence needs to be considered and evaluated by our legal team.  Unite understands that the date for Cullum McAlpine, the alleged architect of the "blacklisting" scandal, to give evidence is Tuesday 21 June.  Unite still represents about 90 members whose jobs were ruined and lives turned upside down by the ‘blacklisting’ scandal.  Unite has not reached any settlement although we continue to negotiate to achieve justice.  The key question that has to be asked of the construction firms, which made an unprecedented admission of guilt last October, is why have they not yet settled?  Unite continues to seek maximum compensation and justice on behalf of our members following those admissions.'

Blacklist Support Group

Cullum McAlpine Coy About Going to Court

‘Blacklisting mastermind’ refuses to give evidence
Shaun Noble, Tuesday, April 12th, 2016

The alleged architect of the construction ‘blacklisting’ scandal, Cullum McAlpine, has declined to give evidence in the High Court case, due to start next month, to establish the extent of wrong-doing in the industry.

Unite condemned the decision by Cullum McAlpine not to take the witness box as ‘a further gross insult’ to the thousands of construction workers who have lost their jobs because of the machinations of the secretive Consulting Association and Services Group of the Economic League.

The revelations about Cullum  McAlpine, a director of Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, came when the companies’ evidence was filed for the High Court  trial which is due to start on Monday May 9 – and is expected to last 11 weeks.

The complex multi-strand case will centre on a number of key legal issues, including defamation, breaches of the 1988 Data Protection Act, conspiracy and misuse of private information. The outcome of the trial will determine the level of compensation those ‘blacklisted’ may receive.

Unite is supporting the claims of about 290 construction workers for damages for years of lost income because they were ‘blacklisted’. The claims are against Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, Balfour Beatty Engineering Services and more than 30 other firms.

Unite also pledged to challenge Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd every time that the company tenders for future public procurement contracts, unless Cullum McAlpine gives evidence at the High Court.

'Despite last October’s unprecedented admission of guilt by construction firms involved in blacklisting, those that masterminded this campaign of blacklisting are still twisting and turning to avoid appearing in court where the media and public will be present,' said Unite director of legal services Howard Beckett.

'It is Unite’s belief that that Cullum McAlpine, as founder chairman, was the key architect in the operation of the Consulting Association until it was raided by the Information Commissioner in 2009.

'The fact that he is refusing to give evidence to help bring closure for the suffering that our members and their families have endured is shaming.

'You judge the character of a person if they are prepared to stand up and defend their actions in open court – you don’t skulk in the legal twilight protected by a platoon of expensive City lawyers,' Beckett added.

'How can a company run by a man who hides from his victims and the justice system ever hope to convince ministers that they have learnt from the sins of the past and deserve to be involved in public procurement contracts.

'Unite says loud and clear to Cullum McAlpine: Turn up and give evidence or expect your dispute with us to go on long after this litigation has concluded. We will object at every turn to your company benefiting from public procurement contracts.

'It is only now after sustained legal action, with the support of Unite, that the lid is being finally lifted on a scandal which has ruined countless lives and led to hardship for many more,” Beckett noted.

'However, the stain of blacklisting won’t be removed until there is a full public inquiry and the livelihoods of the blacklisted are restored by the firms involved giving them a permanent job,' he added.

'Many Unite members, who are the victims of blacklisting, have rejected the employers’ financial offers. The employers make mention of headline figures in regard to their top offers, but the reality is that they continue to attempt to buy off the majority of claims with low offers.

'The employers need to understand that compensation is only one part of the blacklisting struggle and until the employers are prepared to issue unreserved admissions as to the practices they undertook, prepared to disclose all documentation they hold regarding the blacklist and show a willingness to positively intervene in favour of employing victims then the fight goes on.'

Unite statement on 'blacklisting'

UNITE director of legal services, Howard Beckett said:

'Unite is continuing to litigate on behalf of those construction workers whose lives were ruined by the 'blacklisting' scandal.

 'Unite has issued a witness summons for Callum McAlpine, the alleged architect of 'blacklisting' and a named defendant, to give evidence at the High Court trial next month. He has, so far, steadfastly refused to give a statement in response to the serious allegations made against him.

 'Last October, the construction firms involved in blacklisting made an unprecedented admission of guilt and Unite intends to seek justice and compensation to the maximum extent on behalf of our members following those admissions.'

29/04/2016 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 29/04/2016 19:23  

UNITE Report on Cullum McAlpine!

‘Blacklisting mastermind’ refuses to give evidence

Shaun Noble, Tuesday, April 12th, 2016

THE alleged architect of the construction ‘blacklisting’ scandal, Cullum McAlpine, has declined to give evidence in the High Court case, due to start next month, to establish the extent of wrong-doing in the industry.

Unite condemned the decision by Cullum McAlpine not to take the witness box as ‘a further gross insult’ to the thousands of construction workers who have lost their jobs because of the machinations of the secretive Consulting Association and Services Group of the Economic League.

The revelations about Cullum  McAlpine, a director of Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, came when the companies’ evidence was filed for the High Court  trial which is due to start on Monday May 9 – and is expected to last 11 weeks.

The complex multi-strand case will centre on a number of key legal issues, including defamation, breaches of the 1988 Data Protection Act, conspiracy and misuse of private information. The outcome of the trial will determine the level of compensation those ‘blacklisted’ may receive.

Unite is supporting the claims of about 290 construction workers for damages for years of lost income because they were ‘blacklisted’. The claims are against Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, Balfour Beatty Engineering Services and more than 30 other firms.

Unite also pledged to challenge Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd every time that the company tenders for future public procurement contracts, unless Cullum McAlpine gives evidence at the High Court.
 
'Despite last October’s unprecedented admission of guilt by construction firms involved in blacklisting, those that masterminded this campaign of blacklisting are still twisting and turning to avoid appearing in court where the media and public will be present,' said Unite director of legal services Howard Beckett.
 
'It is Unite’s belief that that Cullum McAlpine, as founder chairman, was the key architect in the operation of the Consulting Association until it was raided by the Information Commissioner in 2009.
 
'The fact that he is refusing to give evidence to help bring closure for the suffering that our members and their families have endured is shaming.
 
'You judge the character of a person if they are prepared to stand up and defend their actions in open court – you don’t skulk in the legal twilight protected by a platoon of expensive City lawyers,' Beckett added.
 
'How can a company run by a man who hides from his victims and the justice system ever hope to convince ministers that they have learnt from the sins of the past and deserve to be involved in public procurement contracts.
 
'Unite says loud and clear to Cullum McAlpine: Turn up and give evidence or expect your dispute with us to go on long after this litigation has concluded. We will object at every turn to your company benefiting from public procurement contracts.
 
'It is only now after sustained legal action, with the support of Unite, that the lid is being finally lifted on a scandal which has ruined countless lives and led to hardship for many more,” Beckett noted.
 
'However, the stain of blacklisting won’t be removed until there is a full public inquiry and the livelihoods of the blacklisted are restored by the firms involved giving them a permanent job,” he added.
 
'Many Unite members, who are the victims of blacklisting, have rejected the employers’ financial offers. The employers make mention of headline figures in regard to their top offers, but the reality is that they continue to attempt to buy off the majority of claims with low offers.
 
'The employers need to understand that compensation is only one part of the blacklisting struggle and until the employers are prepared to issue unreserved admissions as to the practices they undertook, prepared to disclose all documentation they hold regarding the blacklist and show a willingness to positively intervene in favour of employing victims then the fight goes on.'
 

Blacklist: High Court case looms!

Cullum McAlpine Ducks-out on High Court

1. Blacklisted workers taunted by central figure in the blacklisting conspiracy 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/opinion/blacklisting-victims-havent-suffered-enough-7752746

2. Blacklisted workers speak at the High Court about how standing up for fellow workers affected their families

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV7lL2Gm9zw

http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2016/04/13/blacklist-contractors-pay-out-another-15-20m/

Please share and circulate this video far & wide - and donate to Reel News 

3. Cullum McAlpine 'mastermind' behind blacklisting conspiracy refuses to give evidence in High Court trial 

http://unitelive.org/the-fight-goes-on/

http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/blacklisting-mastermind-refuses-to-give-evidence-at-high-court-hearing/

http://www.buildingconstructiondesign.co.uk/news/blacklisting-mastermind-refuses-to-give-evidence-at-high-court-hearing/

4. George Tapp - working class hero - has been awarded £80,000 compensation for the life changing injuries he suffered after he was run down by a motorist whilst handing out leaflets at a blacklist protest against the construction giant BAM during the Crossrail dispute. Well done to the union & lawyers for fighting the case.

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-8957-Court-Awards-Blacklist-Hero-Tapp-80,000

5. Overview of the High Court trial

https://undercoverinfo.wordpress.com/2016/04/13/blacklisting-the-blacklisters-the-evidence-subscribers-key-players-finances-etc/

6. Undercover police spied on the Grunwick strikers & caused the abandonment of the Grand National 

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/undercover-with-paul-lewis-and-rob-evans/2016/apr/13/covert-police-spied-on-strikers-and-their-supporters-in-iconic-dispute

https://network23.org/redblackgreen/2016/04/10/1993-the-year-the-grand-national-was-sabotaged-with-help-from-special-branch/

Major conference on undercover police spying on activists this coming weekend - with an all star line up of speakers and a workshop on blacklisting 

http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=107

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/undercover-with-paul-lewis-and-rob-evans/2016/mar/30/doreen-lawrence-to-speak-at-conference-on-undercover-policing-and-racism

7. Blacklist firm Balfour Beatty also exploiting construction workers in Qatar 

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/apr/13/balfour-beatty-interserve-accused-migrant-worker-labour-abuses-qatar

8. Mildred Gordon R.I.P.

Mildred Gordon MP for Bow & Poplar and an active supporter of the Construction Safety Campaign has passed away. http://eastlondonnews.co.uk/former-bow-poplar-mp-mildred-gordon-dies/

"Is it not true that, in this country, no employer who has been found guilty of negligence that has caused a fatal accident on a building site has ever been imprisoned for criminal negligence? Should not such employers be sentenced? If it is their fault that a worker dies, is it not true that only imprisonment will make them take the matter seriously? When great profits are at stake, fines of £400, or even £2,000, will not improve the position"

9. Construction & Offshore safety concerns 

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/building-firm-bosses-jailed-after-11159729#ICID=Android_MENNewsApp_AppShare

https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/north-sea/106583/scottish-government-candidates-grilled-offshore-workers-safety/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EV+Daily+Newsletter+2016-04-13&utm_term=Energy+Voice+-+Newsletter

Blacklist Support Group

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

video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlCa8yQmZ70

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

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