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.

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

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.”

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.

******

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.

******

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

Sir Robert McAlpine & the truth on blacklist?

THE Speaker of the House of Commons and the Sir Robert McAlpine chief executive both joined the war of words about the £29m contract to refurbish Big Ben being awarded to the blacklist company.  On Tuesday 5th September during a Westminster Hall debate on blacklisting MPs including Labour and SNP frontbenchers, Jack Dromey and Chris Stephens, joined Chuka Ummuna in calling for the company that was at the very heart of The Consulting Association human rights scandal to be stripped of the Big Ben contract. 

The former shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna went further on Thursday 7th by raising a 'point of order' on the floor of the House of Commons asking the Speaker, his "views and advice with regard to the matter of Big Ben" adding, "what message do you think it sends to the victims of this gross injustice for this House to award a contract to a firm that not only funded the Consulting Association, but provided its first chair and ​another chair?"

John Bercow replied: that the question was "perfectly legitimately and reasonable" adding that although the company had been awarded the initial contract to provide scaffolding, the full contract had not yet been officially awarded to McAlpine.  The Speaker of the House of Commons summed up by confirming:

"It is important.   We are sensitive to it and we will be conscious in the days ahead of the reputational importance", and told MPs that he would make enquiries and make a further statement.

Stung by the ongoing criticism, the chief executive of Sir Robert McAlpine Limited, Paul Hamer wrote a letter to a number of newspapers claiming that "blacklisting has no place now or in the future” at his firm and that the contractor was committed fully to "a zero-tolerance policy towards blacklisting, illegal or unfair recruitment practices”.  Adding that “I am pleased to confirm that Sir Robert McAlpine complies fully with all legislation to prevent blacklisting and is committed to fair and transparent recruitment.”

Roy Bentham, blacklisted carpenter from Liverpool and Blacklist Support Group, joint secretary responded to the McAlpine statement:

"Paul Hamer might be the CEO but Cullum McAlpine owns the company and I sat behind Cullum McAlpine when he gave evidence to the select committee investigation. Upon advice from his lawyer who was sitting next to him throughout, the blacklister in chief smugly refused to answer questions put to him by MPs. 

"The select committee report stated that they were 'far from certain that all of our witnesses have told us 'the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth', despite many of them being under oath'.  Blacklisted workers completely agree with that assessment by MPs".

"30 years ago Sir Robert McAlpine Limited* denied blacklisting people as part of the Economic League, 10 years ago they denied blacklisting people as part of The Consulting Association.  And now they assure us that they've given up blacklisting completely.  Given the company's previous honesty on blacklisting, how could anybody possibly not believe them now?"

Unite assistant general secretary, Gail Cartmail said workers were “continuing to have their lives ruined simply for being a member of a union”.

*  In May last year, Sir Robert McAlpine Limited was one of eight multi-national contractors that made a public apology alongside a record breaking multi-million pound compensation payout in order to avoid prosecution at the High Court. 

Eight contractors – Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska and Vinci.

McAlpine Boss: No More Blacklisting!

Huffington Post

MPs said it was a ‘scandal’ firm won lucrative Big Ben contract.

08/09/2017 10:14

A CONSTRUCTION firm blasted by MPs after it was awarded a lucrative contract to refurbish Big Ben says it will never allow blacklisting to happen again.

Sir Robert McAlpine was one of eight major companies who had to pay out compensation after admitting it had penalised workers who were trade unionists or took part in union activities. 

Hundreds of construction employees across the country lost their jobs and were unable to find further work after they were blacklisted by industry giants through a shadowy organisation known as ‘The Consulting Association’, which kept lists of names.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Despite this, the government awarded McAlpine a lucrative £29 million contract to prepare the House of Commons’ Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben for refurbishment work.

MPs, including Labour’s Chuka Umunna and Jack Dromey and the SNP’s Chris Stephens, said firms that had been historically involved in blacklisting should face the consequences.

At a Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday, Dromey, a former trade union activist, said it was “a scandal” that McAlpine had been handed a Commons contract and GMB chief Tim Roache said the deal should be cancelled.

McAlpine’s new CEO, Paul Hamer, wrote to HuffPost UK following our report and said the company was committed to making sure blacklisting “stays firmly in the past”.

“Since my arrival, it has been one of my priorities to review the company’s HR and recruitment functions.  I am pleased to confirm that Sir Robert McAlpine complies fully with all legislation to prevent blacklisting and is committed to fair and transparent recruitment,” he said. 

“Blacklisting in construction was, until 2009, an industry-wide issue.   Sir Robert McAlpine admitted and apologised for its involvement with The Consulting Association and amended its HR practices, policies and operations to ensure that it can never happen again.”  

Hamer, who joined McAlpine just over a month ago, said his company was subject to “significant and appropriate scrutiny” before being awarded the Commons contract, which will see the chimes of Big Ben paused for four years while major restorative works are carried out.  

“We carefully check the recruitment and employment practices of all our sub-contractors to ensure they meet our own high standards,” he added.  

“We have a zero tolerance policy towards blacklisting, illegal or unfair recruitment practices.  In summary, I can assure you that blacklisting has no place now nor in the future at Sir Robert McAlpine.”

Business minister Margot James promised the government would look into the future awarding of contracts to firms involved in blacklisting.

*****

Blacklist Group report on Big Ben contract

MPs lined up to call for a public inquiry into blacklisting and for Sir Robert McAlpine to be stripped of the contract to refurbish Big Ben during a parliamentary debate earlier today (Tues 5th September).

 Blacklisting company Sir Robert McAlpine have already been paid £3.5m of public money to carry out the enabling works on Big Ben and are in line for another bumper £29m pay-out to complete the 4 year refurbishment project.
The human rights of over 3000 construction workers were breached when they were repeatedly denied work simply for their trade union membership. MPs questioned whether Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, as the driving force behind the
blacklist, was the right contractor to be carrying out the works on Big Ben: the symbol of British democratic values.

 Shadow minister for labour, Jack Dromey said: "there has to be consequences for historic blacklisting" adding that "it is a scandal that the iconic Big Ben contract has been given to that company' [Sir Robert McAlpine]

 The SNP employment spokesperson, Chris Stephens MP said:  

'Blacklisting firms have grown rich on public sector contracts' arguing that is was an 'act of bad faith by the government that the one of the main perpetrators is being given access to public money'

 The call for Sir Robert McAlpine to be stripped of the Big Ben contract was repeated by numerous MPs including Chuka Ummuna throughout the packed Westminster Hall debate.

 During the debate, Chuka Ummuna presented previously unreported evidence gathered from FOI requests that show emails between Crossrail and contractors on the publicly funded project that showed continuing surveillance of union members.  Ummuna described the new evidence as 'ugly underbelly of this sector that continues to go unaddressed' and repeated the call for a full public inquiry to finally get the truth behind this hidden human rights conspiracy.

 Conservative minister Margot James flailed in her attempted defence of the government’s inaction, claiming that the 'government take the issue of blacklisting very seriously' but point blankly refused to answer direct questions about the controversial Big Ben contract from Chuka Ummuna, Chris Stephens and Jack Dromey.

The blacklisting conspiracy is linked to the undercover police scandal as senior officers from police units engaged in spying on so-called ‘domestic extremists’ attended and gave a PowerPoint presentation at one of the meetings of the illegal Consulting Association.  Chuka Ummuna said:  that documents 'strongly suggests that some of the evidence was supplied with the collusion of the police or the security services.'

Vic Williams blacklisted electrician from Leytonstone in east London said:
'12 months ago, the big construction companies gave us an apology for their involvement in blacklisting.  They were only sorry for getting caught.  McAlpine are coining in taxpayers money, they’re laughing at us. If MPs had any moral compass, they’d strip McAlpine of the Big Ben contract.'

Dave Smith, blacklisted construction worker and secretary of the Blacklist Support Group commented:

'In all the media coverage of the Houses of parliament construction works, Big Ben was described as the symbol of British democratic values. So how can a company that breached the human rights of thousands of honest construction workers be a suitable contractor for one of the most prestigious construction projects in the world? The iconic bell of Big Ben might have fallen silent but blacklisted workers refuse to remain silent until those guilty of orchestrating this national scandal are forced to account for their actions at a public inquiry.'

Sir Robert McAlpine Limited is also a major financial donor to the Conservative Party.

Trade unionists 'blacklisted for Crossrail jobs', MPs told

MPs condemn award of Big Ben contract to firm that blacklisted workers

MP claims construction workers are still being blacklisted | Construction Enquirer

MPs blast 'scandal' of handing Big Ben revamp to firm linked to blacklisting

MPs call for construction company at centre of blacklisting claims to be stripped of Big Ben refurbishment contract

Crossrail says 'no evidence' of blacklisting despite MP's claim

Blacklister McAlpine gets Big Ben Contract

Report from Blacklist Support Group:

THE refurbishment of Big Ben is once again the centre of huge political argument.  And not just about the bells falling silent to protect the hearing of construction workers.  Blacklisted construction workers, MPs and unions have voiced their outrage after is was revealed that the contract to refurbish Big Ben is to be awarded to Sir Robert McAlpine Limited, the company at the very heart of blacklisting scandal, described as the UK's 'worst ever case of organized human rights abuse against workers' by the John McDonnell MP, who spearheaded the blacklisting campaign in parliament.  The issue will be debated this Tuesday (5th September) in parliament. 

The £29million contract to refurbish Big Ben is to be awarded to Sir Robert McAlpine Limited, the company at the very heart of blacklisting scandal. The issue will be debated this Tuesday (5th September) in parliament.
******

'Builders crack' & Private Eye

THE current issue of Private Eye reports that '... after its dirty employment tricks were exposed, the (British) construction industry has finally - if reluctantly - agreed to cough up £75 m to settle the claim brought by hundreds of people who were unable to find work because they were on an illegal blacklist (Eyes passim).
'Hundred of victims are to receive between £20,000 and £200,000 for having their livelihoods blighted because they protested about safety or working conditions, or simply because of their trade union activities.... 
'Companies funded Ian Kerr, who had worked for the (Economic) League and who set up the Consulting Association to hold blacklisting files which also featured troublesome politicians, journalists, lawyers, and academics.  The full scale of the operation was exposed in 2009, when the Information Commissioner's Office seized files and shut down Kerr's outfit.  (Even then the practice continued, however.)
'As Roy Bentham, a carpenter blacklisted since 1995, told the Eye:  "They finally made us an offer we could not refuse, because of the threat of astronomical legal costs.  But it was to save their reputations; it wasn't about justice.'  As a Hillsborough survivor, he knows all about justice.  "It's about getting to the truth.  We want to know exactly who did what and who we ended up on the dole". 
'Despite the group apology from Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O'Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK, and Vinci (companies involved since the 1990s), the Blacklisting Support Group cast doubt on its sincerity.  After all, the firms could have put their hands up when the Information Commissioner caught them red-handed...
'Nor is it lost on the workers that the companies preferred to pay fees to ranks of lawyers to protect corporate reputations and defeat claims, rather than offer reasonable compensation.  The legal costs for the case are estimated to total about £50 m for both sides - nearly the size of the compensation bill itself....
'Lawyers for the companies told the court they hoped the apology meant "this matter can be treated as a closed chapter".  Not so:  the blacklisting victims allege that some senior executives were involved in destroying evidence and a cover-up.  A detailed dossier alleging perversion of the course of justice is being prepared.  The victims may still have their day in court.'

Did blacklisting construction companies shred evidence? Workers demand police investigation!

We are publishing below and article by Daniel Boffey that appeared in The Observer today, Sunday 15th May 2016:

"Victims of blacklisting by the construction industry, who were awarded a £75m out-of-court settlement, are to demand a police investigation into their claims that key executives tried to pervert the course of justice.

On Wednesday major companies, including Sir Robert McAlpine and Balfour Beatty, issued an “unreserved and sincere” apology in the high court to hundreds of workers for putting them on an illegal blacklist and denying them work over two decades.

The companies agreed to pay sums ranging from £25,000 to £200,000 to 771 people under out-of-court settlements to avoid a trial, while accepting that “their secret vetting operation should never have happened”. However, evidence disclosed before the settlement has led many of the victims to claim that there was an illegal attempt by executives at Sir Robert McAlpine to destroy evidence and cover up the involvement of key individuals when the blacklisting was discovered in 2009. The targets of the victims’ intended criminal complaint include Cullum McAlpine, a director of Sir Robert McAlpine and a member of the founding family, who was chairman of the blacklisting organisation, known as the Consulting Association, when it was formed in 1993.

Sir Robert McAlpine’s head of human resources, David Cochrane, who was a later chairman of the association, is also at the centre of the complaint. Both deny involvement in destroying any relevant files and categorically deny attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) raided the Consulting Association on 23 February 2009, retrieving a limited number of files. Those involved in the blacklisting operation were aware that they were not to destroy any further evidence. However, a handwritten note of a meeting on 2 March 2009, which records Cochrane instructing Ian Kerr, a former Consulting Association chief executive, along with the notebook in which it was discovered, will be at the centre of the victims’ case that the obligation not to destroy evidence was not met. It reads: “Ring everyone – Cease trading – Close down. We don’t exist anymore – Destroy data – Stop processing of …” A second entry in Kerr’s notebook read: “ALL mailing lists – shredded – NOT TAKEN BY ICO.”

In a notebook dated 23 February 2009, a handwritten note of a conversation between Kerr and Cochrane appeared to record Cochrane instructing Kerr as follows: “Cullum McAlpine – his name – remove this from any documents.”

Meanwhile, a letter dated 16 June 2009 from Kerr’s wife, Mary, to Cullum McAlpine additionally stated: “It was suggested by Mr Cochrane that Ian had not kept to his side of the agreement to put himself ‘in the frame’ and keep the companies’ names out of the magistrates court hearing with the promise of the payment of all outstanding debts by Sir Robert McAlpine. Ian had instructed his solicitor not to name any company in court, which is exactly what happened.”

During a hearing of the Scottish affairs select committee, Kerr, who died in 2012, admitted that his £5,000 fine for breaches of the Data Protection Act following a magistrates court hearing in 2009 was met by Sir Robert McAlpine “on the basis that I had put myself at the front and took the flak, if you like, for it all, so that they wouldn’t be drawn into all of this. They would remain hidden.”
Dave Smith, of the Blacklisting Support Group, said victims would be visiting police to make their complaints. A spokesman for Sir Robert McAlpine said: “No instructions were given to Mr Kerr or by Mr Kerr to members of the Consulting Association to destroy documents relating to [its] activities.”

He added that the company complied fully with the court requirement for complete disclosure of documents relating to the activities of the Consulting Association."

Unite do deal, but contractors still at risk!

CONSTRUCTION NEWS REPORTS:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blacklist: £200 million settlement victory

THE group litigation blacklist High Court trial originally scheduled to start today (Monday 9th May) has settled following last minute increased compensation offers by the 8 major construction companies at the heart of the scandal.  Additional offers were made to blacklisted workers represented by Unite the Union late on Friday.  A hastily called hearing will now take place on Wednesday 11th May at which a public apology and admissions about the firms involvement in the Consulting Association secret conspiracy will be read out in open court. 

The total figure for compensation paid out by the blacklisting firms is estimated at £50million with an additional £200 million worth of legal costs for the different legal teams involved. The defendants are: Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and VINCI - No doubt shareholders and non-executive directors will be asking questions about those responsible for this big hit to the bottom line.  

Dave Smith - secretary Blacklist Support Group commented:

'Despite all of the denials and attempts to cover up their secret conspiracy, the largest multinationals in the construction sector have been forced to to pay out millions in compensation.  Make no mistake, the High Court action is a historic victory for the trade union movement against the vicious face of free market capitalism.

The blacklist firms might have hoped that by buying their way out of a show trial, that the scandal that has disgraced an entire industry will go away: it won't.  Blacklisting is a human rights conspiracy against trade unionism by big business and shady anti-democratic political policing units within the British state. 

These fat cats and their friends in the police took food off of our children's table, causing years of family hardship.

We take this personally.  A few quid and a mealy mouthed apology is a long way from justice.  We intend to continue our fight to expose those who orchestrated and colluded with blacklisting.  In any civilized society, the wretches would be in jail by now.

Blacklist Support Group would like to pay tribute to all the legal teams who have taken us this

far, especially Guney Clark & Ryan solicitors who have been working with us since the blacklist

was discovered in 2009.  Without the ground breaking work by GCR, there would never have been any High Court litigation at all.'

High Court Photo-Opportunity

Blacklist Support Group 

9:15am Wednesday 11th May 

UNITE the Union press release: 

THE biggest 'blacklisting' scandal in UK construction industry history has seen the court case end in victory as 256 workers are set to receive more than £10 million in compensation.    Construction ‘blacklisting’ victory sees £10 million pay-out to 256 workers.

Unite, the country's biggest union, said today (Monday 9 May) that the pay-outs could range from £25,000 up to £200,000 per claimant, depending on such factors as the loss of income and the seriousness of the defamation.   
Unite’s determined legal stance last week resulted in a further £4 million for 97 of the 256 claimants, whose original compensation offers the union deemed inadequate. This brought the total compensation package to £10,435,000.   
Unite waged a five-year fight, following the election of Len McCluskey as general secretary of Unite, against household names, such as Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd and Balfour Beatty Engineering Services as well as more than 30 other firms, which were part of a blacklisting conspiracy that saw hundreds of workers lose those jobs and have their lives ruined for carrying out legitimate trade union activities, such as health and safety.   
At the centre of the scandal were the machinations of the secretive Consulting Association which was raided by the Information Commissioner in 2009.   
Today (Monday 9 May) Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said:
‘The massive scale of the agreed damages - more than £10 million - shows the gravity of the misdeeds of these major construction companies which created and used the Consulting Group
as a vehicle to enable them to blacklist trade unionists on behalf of more than 30 construction companies.   

‘The sums to be paid out go a considerable way to acknowledge the hurt, suffering and loss of income our members and their families have been through over many years.   

‘Under the agreement they can once more apply for jobs in the construction industry without fear of discrimination.   

'This settlement is a clear statement on behalf of the trade union movement that never again can such nefarious activities be allowed to happen against decent working people trying to earn an honest living in a tough industry.   

 ‘The message is clear that there can never be any hiding place for bosses in the construction and any other industry thinking of reverting to shameful blacklisting practices against committed trade unionists.’

Unite director of legal services Howard Beckett said:

‘Unite is proud to have fought right to the end to get the maximum we believed was possible against companies that had to be dragged kicking and screaming to make unprecedented admissions of guilt last October.

‘In addition to financial compensation, admissions of guilt and formal apologies, the companies have agreed, as a result of this litigation, to issue guidance to site managers to ensure blacklisting is not occurring on a local level and to ensure that Unite members receive no less favourable treatment for job applications, as a result of this litigation.  

‘However, what remains outstanding from the agreement is the legislative definition of blacklisting, as outlined in the Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklisting) Regulations 2010.

‘We view the secret vetting operation carried out by the Consulting Association as a blacklist, and hence in contravention of the Act. This is the core reason as to why these companies should be answerable to a public inquiry and why the Westminster and the devolved governments should continue to ask serious questions of these companies before they are engaged for public contracts.
‘Finally, Unite would like to thank its legal team – Anthony Hudson QC at Matrix; Ben Cooper, counsel at Old Square and Richard Arthur and his team at Thompsons Solicitors – who stood should to shoulder with the trade union movement during this lengthy - and ultimately victorious - landmark case.’


The Unite case centred on a number of key legal issues, including defamation, breaches of the 1988 Data Protection Act, conspiracy and misuse of private information.
 

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/

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.'
 

Mystery of Computer Blacklist File

THE computer used by the illegal blacklisting organisation The Consulting Association (TCA) has dramatically been found after being 'lost' of more than 7 years. The PC was seized during the Information Commissioners' Office raid in 2009 but unbelievably the ICO returned the computer to Ian Kerr, chief executive of the blacklisting body without even turning it on to analyse it. The government department believed they had enough evidence for a conviction but their actions were subsequently roundly condemned by MPs during a Select Committee investigation into the systematic victimsation of union members in the construction industry.

According to Kerr, once the PC had been returned, it was destroyed along with all the data on it. But this has now turned out to be incorrect. During research for his book 'Blacklisted: the secret war between big business and union activists', investigative journalist Phil Chamberlain acquired the PC from the one time TCA book keeper Mary Kerr, who is set to be a witness in the imminent High Court blacklisting trial.

Phil Chamberlain commented: 

'The Consulting Association and the construction industry went to great lengths to keep their operation secret but we've gone to even greater lengths to gather evidence of their activities. It was only at the end of hours of interviews at her home that Mary Kerr mentioned a computer stored in her garage. I hadn't expected to be driving home with that in the boot of my car. Despite their best efforts, the secrets of the construction industry blacklist are being dragged into the light. Investigative journalism should and can change the public discourse but it often relies on persistence and lucky breaks.'

Apart from one letter chasing an unpaid invoice, all of the documents relating to the blacklisting operation have been deleted from the computer. The hard drive from the PC is now undergoing expert forensic computer examination to discover if previously deleted emails, word documents and spreadsheets can be recovered from hidden historical archives and ghost files. Any retrieved documents would then be used as evidence in the High Court. Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Skanska, Kier, Vinci and Laing O’Rourke are the defendants in the trial.

The rediscovery of the computer has the potential to blown apart the wall of secrecy surrounding the blacklisting conspiracy.  Despite numerous Court Orders, the blacklisting firms have repeatedly failed to disclose documents and in some cases the High Court has been told about evidence being deliberately destroyed. Not a single set of minutes from 16 years of TCA meetings have so far been disclosed. Not a single letter or email to or from Cullum McAlpine, the founding chairman of the blacklist conspiracy has been disclosed to the court. In a few days, the entire cover up may start to fall apart at the seams.

Howard Beckett, Legal Director at Unite the Union said: 

'These defendants openly admit to the destruction of documents. Their attempts to deny meaningful levels of compensation and to deny conspiracy allegations rely upon the lack of records. This discovery allows the victims legal teams to further explore the possibility that undisclosed documents still exist showing the true extent of those involved in the disgraceful practice of blacklisting.'

The hard drive also has the potential to shed further light on the involvement of the police in the human rights scandal. In 2008, Detective Chief Inspector Gordon Mills from the National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit (NETCU), one of the infamous and now disbanded police political surveillance units gave a PowerPoint presentation to senior managers and company directors at a TCA meeting in Oxfordshire. Ian Kerr claimed that a 'two way exchange of information' was established following the secret meeting. Both the police and the companies claim that no correspondence whatsoever relating to this meeting exists.   

Dave Smith, BSG secretary and core participant in the Pitchford inquiry into undercover policing commented: 

'Its like Indiana Jones finding the Lost Ark. No one knows what secrets might be locked away inside but if you're one of the bad guys, you might want to keep your eyes closed.  Lots of people involved in the blacklisting conspiracy will be having sleepness nights worrying what is about to come out. My heart bleeds for them.' 

Next Blacklisting High Court hearing Thursday 7th April Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand

Photo-opportunity with blacklisted workers at: 9;15am

https://www.facebook.com/events/812975302136630/

'Blacklisted: the secret war between big business and union activists' has been shortlisted for the Bread & Roses Book Award . 

http://www.bread-and-roses.co.uk/ 

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

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/