TAMESIDE TWEETS OR TWITS?

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

Doreen Dickinson‏ @DorDic1 Jan 17

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

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

Weasel Words

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

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

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

******

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

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

'BENT UNION OFFICIALS'!

from Alan Wainwright's Blog

 Friday, 25 August 2017

IT is common knowledge to everyone involved in the blacklisting over the last twelve years that the current Unite area official, Mick Tuff and the then General Secretary, Derek Simpson buried all my blacklisting evidence in 2005/2006, leaving me (a current member of the Amicus union at the time) isolated and alone with this, and allowing Ian Kerr and The Consulting Association to continue functioning.
 

The evidence presented to them was the exact same evidence, no more or less than eventually enabled David Clancy from the ICO to trace and close down the Consulting Association some four years later.

I have raised this with many Unite officials over the years and many senior Labour politicians (funded by Unite), who have all turned a blind eye to this.  

On learning about Mr McCluskeys' election pledge (to hold an independent inquiry into trade union official complicity in the blacklisting),  I presented an extensive report to him on the evidence I’d collated on the cover up, trade union official collusion and other very important and relevant facts.  I put it to him that the scope of this inquiry needed to be widened much further than just officer collusion. 

The report can be downloaded here: REPORT

The appendices can be downloaded here: APPENDICES

Mr McCluskeys' email response dated 24 August 2017 simply states:  

“Please find enclosed a letter which has gone out to all of our construction NISC”.

"I am advised that you are not a member of Unite and this is just to advise that my dealings on this matter will be solely through the official organ of the union, i.e. the Construction NISC and the Executive Council”.

The letter referred to can be downloaded here: LETTER

My report had clearly stated that I am a member of Unite. It also detailed my membership and branch number at the top of the page. 

Mr McCluskeys’ comment therefore strongly suggests that he had not even read the report, let alone considered the very important facts contained.

alan wainwright & the construction industry blacklist - blogger

www.alanwainwright.blogspot.com 

http://www.unite4len.co.uk/len-mccluskey-vows-carry-fight-blacklisted-workers/

Building industry blacklist whistleblower sues for victimisation ...

https://www.theguardian.com › Business › Construction industry 

Blacklisting: A story far from over

 By Gordon Anderson in 'Construction News'
3 April, 2017

THE story of blacklisting is a well-known one - and one that many thought was consigned to the past. But with the file reopened late last year, could there be more to come?
Many years since the initial revelations, the story of construction blacklisting far from over.
In December 2016, information commissioner Elizabeth Denham reopened the blacklisting file, starting a watching brief to monitor the on-going practices of the construction industry.
And in February this year, Labour MP Chuka Umunna called on Parliament to open a public inquiry into blacklisting practices in public construction projects, backed by Unite.
Construction companies would be wise to improve their systems to avoid a sequel to the 2009 story.

The blackstory

Blacklists were a secret database run by the Consulting Association that collected the names, religion, union membership, National Insurance numbers and other personal information on thousands of construction workers.
Over 16 years, the names of more than 3,000 individuals were put on this list without their knowledge.
Construction companies would run the names of potential employees against the list and, as a result, hundreds of workers lost their jobs and were unable to find work for years without knowing why.
The privacy of these individuals was gravely infringed, and often the information on the list was not even correct.

“In May 2016, several out-of-court settlements were reached by construction companies, who were estimated to have paid out £50m in compensation to 771 workers and £25m in legal fees”

In 2009, Ian Kerr, the man who ran the list, was prosecuted for failing to register as a data controller and 14 construction companies including Balfour Beatty and Kier were issued enforcement notices by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for violating the data protection principles that dictate that personal information must be used fairly.
Lawsuits followed in the civil courts where workers and unions demanded damages for the injustices they suffered.
In May 2016, several out-of-court settlements were reached by construction companies, who were estimated to have paid out £50m in compensation to 771 workers and £25m in legal fees.
The practice of blacklisting subjected thousands of workers to an unfair system of recruitment, leaving many individuals without work for years. And the companies involved in the practice not only suffered large settlement bills, but were publicly censured and suffered a blow to their reputation.

More to come?

In 2017, the story of blacklisting may seem to be on the backburner. But with the renewed call for a public inquiry and the ICO’s open file on blacklisting, there may be more to come.
If there were a second investigation into blacklisting, the ICO has greater powers this time around.
For conduct taking place after 6 April 2010, the ICO now has the ability to enforce higher fines of up to £500,000.
In 2009, the ICO was only able to prosecute the party running the list, but not the companies who used the list. This was widely criticised and it is likely that this limitation could be changed.
Construction companies should stay vigilant in preventing any form of blacklisting, starting with understanding the legislation.

“In 2009, the ICO was only able to prosecute the party running the list, but not the companies who used the list. This was widely criticised and it is likely that this limitation could be changed”

The Data Protection Act 1998 protects the personal information and data of individuals. Section 4 of the act outlines the data protection principles, and it is the responsibility of everyone – corporates and individuals alike – to follow them.
In summary, when using personal information one must ensure that it is used fairly and lawfully, that it is for a limited and specifically stated purpose, that the use is not excessive, it is accurate, and that it is kept safe and secure and for no longer than is necessary for the stated purpose.
If the ICO finds a contravention of these principles it has the power to issue an enforcement notice alerting that the identified conduct must cease. It is a criminal offence to fail to comply with the enforcement notice and offences are punishable by fine.

A helpful framework

To assist employers in staying within the data protection rules, the ICO published the Employment Practices Code in 2011.
Part 1 of the code outlines good practice when using personal data in the recruitment process. It states that an employer should only seek information that is relevant to the recruitment decision being made.
Where it is necessary to obtain documents or information about the worker from a third party, the employer should obtain consent from the worker.
If in the process of verifying or vetting an applicant the information produces discrepancies, the applicant should be given the opportunity to make representations. Where information is received that affects the individual’s privacy, they should be made aware of this.
These are some of the many practices that construction companies should follow.
While the Data Protection Act is the definitive law on the matter, the ICO’s code can provide a helpful framework.
Gordon Anderson is partner and head of the London construction team at Irwin Mitchell

Loneliness of the Longdistance Whistleblower!

by Brian Bamford

Derek Pattison - Joint Editor wrote on 9th, March 2017:

'I feel compelled to comment. There is no doubt that Mr. Wainwright's help in exposing this blacklisting scandal, was absolutely invaluable to many building workers.  This was because he was a 'blacklister' turned 'whistleblower' and had valuable inside information.  However, when he gave evidence to the Scottish Affairs Select Committee, he was asked at what point he realised that there was something reprehensible or immoral about blacklisting construction workers.
'Many people (including those on the Scottish Affairs Select Ccommittee) felt that he did not act as he did, because his conscious pricked him, but because he had been shit on by the company he worked for when he raised the issue of alleged corrupt practices and they took detrimental action against him. Some people feel that he really blew the whistle because he was a disgruntled employee who wanted to get back at the company that he worked for.
'There is nothing surprising about this and people often do blow the whistle for similar and not unrelated reasons, rather than acting in the public interest.
'Mr Wainwright refers to his meeting with Ian Kerr.  As I understand it, Kerr said in his evidence to the SASC, that Mr. Wainwright had said that Tarmac (the company he worked for, now Carillion) did not need his services because they had their own information about construction workers and could operate their own blacklist.
'Understandably, Mr Wainwright will now want to minimise his involvement in this scandalous practice of blacklisting, and engage in ex-post facto rationalisations.  No doubt, Alan will be happy to expand on these matters and answer questions about this, when he meets trades unionist to talk about his role in the blacklisting of construction workers.'

Derek Pattison, the joint-editor of Northern Voices, wrote the comment above earlier this month in response to an appeal from the whistle-blower and former costruction industry boss, Alan Wainwright in a legal case against Balfour Beatty.  Derek, in his account below, was clearly anxious to show that there is much that is complicated in the affairs of men and women:  the line between morality and expediency may well be a fine one.  It is now worth reminding ourselves by re-reading what the journalist Rob Evans had to say in The Guardian on Friday the 15th, May 2009:

Alan Wainwright: The lonely life of a construction industry whistleblower 

by Rob Evans Friday 15 May 2009 01.00 BST

Blacklist whistleblower, Alan Wainwright. Photograph: Christopher Thomond 

How former manager exposed how workers were being secretly blacklisted. 

ALAN WAINWRIGHT is a whistleblower who appears to have had a significant hand in changing government policy. The one-time construction manager used his inside knowledge to expose the clandestine use by companies of blacklisting that has prevented trade unionists and alleged "troublemakers" getting jobs.

By going public, he set off a chain of events which resulted, on Monday, in an announcement from the business secretary, Lord Mandelson, that the government was finally going to outlaw covert blacklists. Mandelson had been forced to act after a watchdog closed down a private investigator allegedly at the heart of blacklisting in the construction industry. Wainwright played a key role in helping to unmask the investigator, who is due to be prosecuted for breaking the data protection act on 27 May. This week he is pleased, but keen to stress that others, including trade unionists and politicians, deserve the credit as well.
He has trodden the familiar path of a whistleblower – battling for a long time in obscurity while being ignored by those in power: "It was demoralising not to be believed." Like other whistleblowers, he suffered for going public – losing his job, having no income, using up all his savings to live, experiencing a lot of stress, and fearing he would be evicted from his home: "It affects your relationship with your children, who are the most important thing in my life."

Industrial strife

Wainwright, 45, grew up in Deeside, north Wales. He started off as an electrician then ran a recruitment agency before being recruited by the Tarmac construction firm.
His whistleblowing story starts in 1997 when he was the national labour manager at an engineering company, Crown House (then a Tarmac subsidiary). He had been told by a senior manager that construction companies paid a private investigator, Ian Kerr, for information to "ensure that certain workers did not gain employment on their projects". He was told to meet Kerr because the vetting was being extended to Crown House's labour force.

"He [Kerr] definitely made it clear that they were undesirable people who had a history of causing disruption to projects," Wainwright says.
He had two meetings with Kerr, who said that many construction firms supplied him with details of workers on his database. As an example, Wainwright was shown a list of more than 100 names. According to Wainwright, Kerr said that when someone applied for a job, the company would forward their name to him so he could check his database. Wainwright said that if a worker was rejected, a simple "no" would come back, with no other explanation.
Wainwright's department faxed a weekly list of names to Kerr; later the lists went to Tarmac's head office: "It was very discreet, a closely guarded secret. It was made clear to me that I was not to discuss it with anybody, and I didn't." However, something was stirring in his mind: "I knew deep down that there was something wrong with it."
Yesterday, Laing O'Rourke, which now owns Crown House, said that in recent years it had bought companies which had paid Kerr, but this had been stopped.  In 2000, Wainwright briefly worked for the Drake and Scull construction firm. He said his managers sent him a list of 500 workers, with their national insurance numbers, which it had received from rival construction firm Balfour Beatty.  He said the listed workers had been employed on three large construction projects that had seen a lot of industrial strife, and that the list was distributed to managers to ensure some workers were not employed.  The memo, dated August 2000, advised him to "keep this information confidential".
The Emcor construction company, which owns Drake and Scull, said it was aware of the list described by Wainwright: "We have employed individuals named on that list, at the time and subsequently. We do not condone blacklists."
By 2004, Wainwright was a manager for Haden Young, a subsidiary of Balfour Beatty. Within a year, he came across what he thought was fraud by employees, but says his bosses were not interested in finding out the truth – a claim they deny. "The management shunned me," he says. "It got to the point where I felt very isolated, alone and alienated. It was one of the most distressing periods of my life."  He initiated a grievance complaint against the company, but began to worry that he himself would be branded a troublemaker.

In a letter to his head office in July 2005, he wrote: "The company operates a blacklisting procedure for new recruits and hired temporary agency workers to check for any previous history of union militancy, troublemaking."
Copies of Haden Young faxes from the time show lists of names being faxed to head office so that, he believes, they could be vetted.
Yesterday Balfour Beatty said it did "not condone the use of 'blacklists' in any circumstances and has taken steps to ensure that none of our companies use such services."  In 2006, Wainwright quit Haden Young but lost an employment tribunal claim. He was by then convinced that he had been blacklisted as he had applied unsuccessfully for more than 150 jobs.  He believed he had to make a concerted effort to expose the blacklisting if he were ever going to get work. He set up a website and posted names of hundreds of workers he believed had been blacklisted to alert them.

Unfair dismissal

He linked up with workers who thought they were being blacklisted, shared his inside information with them and gave evidence for them in industrial tribunals.  Three workers won their case in 2007 for unfair dismissal when a tribunal concluded that a "disgraceful" blacklist did exist in the construction industry.  A Guardian article on the cases last June caught the attention of the Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, the official privacy watchdog.  He investigated because he was worried that workers were unfairly being denied jobs.  As Wainwright had met Kerr and still had documents concerning the alleged blacklisting, he was able to help him.  Investigators raided Haden Young premises and tracked down the elusive Kerr to a nondescript office in Droitwich, Worcestershire. In February, they raided Kerr's premises and seized a secret database of 3,200 workers, effectively finishing the 66-year-old's business.
Thomas then named 40 construction firms including Balfour Beatty, Sir Robert McAlpine, Laing O'Rourke, Emcor and Crown House, which he said had been clandestinely using the database to vet potential workers. According to Thomas, the firms bought details of the individuals' trade union activities and work record from Kerr. Workers were said to be labelled, for example, as "Communist party", "lazy and a trouble-stirrer", "Do not touch" and "Irish ex-army bad egg".  Among the entries was one on Wainwright recording how he had helped blacklisted workers.
Now the jovial Wainwright is happily out of the construction industry and working for a concert ticket business.
He is animated about who are the ultimate culprits –  the directors of the construction companies. "Ian Kerr is not the primary cause of this.  The companies set him up in business, funded his existence from the start, and each name on the list would have been provided by the companies.  The directors took the decisions to join the system."

He is not ready to celebrate the end of blacklisting yet as he is waiting to see if Mandelson manages to draw up a proper law to eradicate it. "I am cautiously optimistic, however," he says.
Alan Wainwright's new blog on the construction industry blacklist is now live

Alan Wainwright: the CV

Born Chester 1963.
Career 1979-1989, qualified electrician; 1989-1993, managing director of own recruitment business; 1993-2000, national labour manager, Crown House; 2000, business improvement director at Emcor Drake & Scull; 2001-2004, human resources consultancy work; 2004-2005, production manager, Haden Young; 2006-present, concert ticket buyer, after 200 unsuccessful job applications.
Family Divorced, son 21 and daughter 19.
Interests Writing, performing and watching live music.

Blacklist Company & Rochdale MBC

LAST night, there were two demonstrations outside Rochdale Town Hall for the full council meeting.  One was an ongoing protest by citizens and council workers again the Labour and Tory councillors who at the last full council meeting awarded themselves a rise in stipend of 34%, but the other was a challenge by residents who are anxious about the Northern Economic Gateway which proposes to build posh houses on the Green Belt in Rochdale and other areas of Greater Manchester.

The Rochdale Council leader, Richard Farnell, did his best to justify the rise in the councillor's stipend of which he is the chief beneficiary*.  What was more interesting last night was the debate about the Green Belt, which resulted in cat-calls from the packed public gallery.

Councillor Farnell promised a full consultation which the public over the next 20-years in which the project will be rolled out.  He also predicted a vision of an economic utopia for the people of Rochdale and beyond when the project goes ahead.

A Tory councillor suggested that only Brown Field land should be used in the first place and that areas of Green Belt should only be used if and when necessary.  But the Tory councillor then said that obcourse the building firm 'Balfour (Beatty) will not agree to this!'.

This was stating the obvious, because the contrators want the cream first and foremost , and the Green Belt offers the most profitable land for development.

Yet, Balfour Beatty is no ordinary company it was one of the prime movers of the Blacklist in the British building industry and was an affiliate of the Consulting Association operated on its behalf by the now deceased blacklister Ian Kerr, before it was closed down by the Information Commissioner in 2009 it damaged many lives of working men.

If Rochdale Council, a Labour Council, is now going to get into bed with a gang of blacklisters who have inflicted tremendous suffering on workers in the British building trade this is to say the least very disappointing.

What happened to an 'Ethical Procurement Policy' at Rochdale MBC?  Or indeed in Greater Manchester?

At least Councillor Richard Farnell's predecessor former Councillor Colin Lambert  when leader of Rochdale MBC said that his council would avoid employing companies like Balfour Beatty that participate in the blacklisting of trade unionists.

For coverage of the previous Rochdale meeting of Rochdale MBC filmed by Carl Faulkner, and how the Rochdale councillor's voted through their 34% rise in the councillor's stipend go to  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c2pmv_lZFI

Ruined Lives: UCATT report on blacklisting. | UCATT

https://www.ucatt.org.uk › Campaigns › Blacklisting

ALAN WAINWRIGHT & THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY BLACKLIST

www.alanwainwright.blogspot.com/ 

Only One Prosecution For Blacklisting

Blacklist campaigner highlights injustice

ONLY one person has been prosecuted for their criminal culpability in the blacklisting scandal, with not a single construction director behind the illegal operation having faced charges.  However, Ian Kerr, the former head of the Consulting Association – the industry financed organisation that spied on union and safety activists and provided the information to major site firms – has now been joined by award-winning human rights campaigner Dave Smith, as the focus of a prosecution.

Smith, a blacklisted worker and secretary of the Blacklist Support Group, was found guilty last week but discharged at the City of London magistrates’ court for disrupting traffic in Park Lane, London, in a blacklisting protest in March last year.  Commenting after his conviction, he said since the scandal erupted:

'Only two people have ever been convicted because of their involvement with blacklisting — Ian Kerr and me.'  

Smith was not fined but the offence will be held on his record for the next six months.

The Green Party has come out in support of calls for a public inquiry into the practice of blacklisting trade unionists and campaigners.  Outgoing Green leader Natalie Bennett said:

'The time has come for a public inquiry into the shameful practice of blacklisting. It’s vital that those who were discriminated against, and the public, gain an understanding of how this information on suspected trade unionists was collected and how it was shared with prospective employers.'

Green Party member of the House of Lords, Jenny Jones added that companies caught using blacklisting should not be left with the responsibility for ridding the industry of the practice.  'That’s why parliament must step up and kick-start a public inquiry into blacklisting,' the baroness said.  'I’m also urging any worker who was discriminated in this way to speak to me about their experiences. I’ll do all that I can to take this forward in the Lords.'

Ÿ  Blacklist blog. Green Party news release. Morning Star.Road block: How blocking roads has become a great way of making employers change direction, Dave Smith, Hazards, 2016.

'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.'

Blacklisting: 'How far did this conspiracy go'?

THE BLACKLIST Support Group today announced that it intends to make a formal submission to the Metropolitan Police calling for an investigation into the destruction of documents and computer files by multinationals involved in the blacklisting scandal. 

High Court orders have resulted in retrieved computer records from construction firms only recently being disclosed to the lawyers of blacklisted workers. This previously hidden evidence indicates that computer hard drives were destroyed, email accounts were deleted and correspondence was shredded by companies appearing in the High Court litigation. 

Witness evidence and documents provided by Ian Kerr (chief executive of The Consulting Association) to a Select Committee investigation indicate that over 90% of the paperwork held by the blacklisting body was burnt on a bonfire and instructions were given to destroy other evidence. The destruction of the documents and computer files occurred at the same time as the ICO was carrying out an investigation, a criminal trial was taking place, hundreds of Employment Tribunal cases were still live, cases were submitted to the European Court of Human Rights and a High Court group litigation trial was being prepared. 

Now the newly disclosed evidence is available to blacklisted workers, it is felt that there is a strong case that the course of justice may have been deliberately perverted. A dossier is being compiled for legal opinion before considering pressing for the DPP to charge individuals involved with the Consulting Association and possibly the CEOs who sanctioned their illegal activity.  Perverting the course of justice is an indictable criminal offence without statute of limitations. If a person is found guilty of concealing evidence sentencing guidelines suggest a two year term of imprisonment.   

Dave Smith - the Blacklist Support Group secretary commented: 

'The pieces in the jigsaw are now coming together, albeit many are lost forever. The stench of corporate wrongdoing is no longer a moral issue but potentially a serious criminal offence. We will be doing everything in our power to make sure the police and the DPP take this matter seriously. The rich and powerful may think they are above the law but blacklisting will not be covered up like Saville was. Whatever the outcome in the High Court, our dossier will be handed into the police. If senior individuals gave orders or knowingly colluded in destroying documents that anyone could have predicted would undoubtedly have been used as evidence in numerous legal proceedings, they need to be held to account for their actions.' 

Howard Beckett Legal Director at Unite said: 

'The reason given by the defendants for poor disclosure is to openly admit to a corporate policy of ensuring the destruction of documents.  Their attempts to deny meaningful levels of compensation and to deny conspiracy allegations rely upon the lack of records.  Multiple legal cases became inevitable the very day that the Consulting Association was established, let alone the day it was raided.  People clearly felt their actions were unlawful, why else the secrecy and why else routinely destroy documents.  The Consulting Association was a secret conspiracy and Cullum McAlpine, a named defendant was at the core of it.  McAlpine is determined to avoid giving evidence at the High Court but for the sake of justice, he needs to now confirm he will appear to finally allow the victims of blacklisting to ask how far this conspiracy goes.'

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/

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/

David Cameron link to blacklist arrest - trial starts this Thursday‏!

 We are publishing below a recent briefing from the Blacklist Support Group:

"For over 6 years campaigners have called for the jail sentences for those directors of multinational companies responsible for the construction industry blacklist conspiracy. To date, not a single senior manager has even been interviewed by the police or disciplined by their employer. But when the Blacklist Support Group (BSG) dared to protest about safety concerns on Crossrail and the ongoing blacklisting of union activists on the publicly funded project, Dave Smith (BSG secretary) was arrested. 

 His trial starts on Thursday 23rd July

City of London Magistrates Court 

1 Queen Victoria Street

(Next to Bank tube station)  

Smith is charged with unlawful obstruction of the highway, when along with 40 other protesters, he stopped traffic on Park Lane outside a Construction News Awards ceremony held at the Hilton Hotel in March this year. 

 Police notebooks disclosed as evidence to Guney, Clark & Ryan (GCR) solicitors indicate a link between David Cameron and the arrest. 

 Smith is a leading campaigners against the blacklisting of union members in the building industry and as co-author of the recently published book,'Blacklisted: the secret war between big business and union activists' has exposed the role of undercover police spying on trade unions http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/ 

 Smith has repeatedly claimed that both he and the BSG continue to be spied on by undercover police because of their campaigning activities. The BSG is one of the groups that has made submissions to the Pitchford public inquiry into undercover policing recently set up by Teresa May - see link: http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-f734-Justice-at-last-for-spied-on-workers,-or-another-cover-up#.Va4NfflVikp

 The Metropolitan Police have refused to supply Smith with a copy of his police file claiming 'national security' and 'ongoing investigations' as the reasons. FOI requests in relation to police spying on the BSG receive the response that the Met can 'Neither Confirm Nor Deny' whether surveillance is ongoing. Yet, Police Notebooks disclosed as evidence for Thursday's trial state that the Met Police had intelligence about the demonstrators before the protest took place. Several police notebooks also refer to receiving instructions at a briefing delivered by superior officers about David Cameron in relation to the protest. Full details will be disclosed during witness evidence at the trial. 

 Dave Smith commented:

"It seems that its one law for big business and another law for the rest of us. Multinationals and the secret police can conspire against trade unions and destroy evidence that would be used in court cases, and nothing happens. But if we dare to protest about the human rights scandal, we get arrested. At a time when the Tories are attacking trade unions and increasing state surveillance, this trial is about defending the democratic right to protest". 

 Witnesses have claimed that although 40 protesters blocked the road, that Smith was particularly targeted by the police and arrested within seconds of the demonstration moving into Park Lane. On the night of Smith's arrest, John McDonnell MP repeatedly tweeted "Police refuse to tell me where they're holding Dave Smith. Suspicious that he was the only one arrested at blacklist demo". 

John McDonnell MP is set to be a witness in the trial. 

 Smith is being represented by the barrister JC Townsend and the solicitor Liam Dunne from GCR, both are more used to appearing in human rights cases at the High Court rather than obstruction charges in a Magistrates Court.

 Liam Dunne, from Guney, Clark & Ryan solicitors commented, 

"We intend on vigorously defending, Mr. Smith’s attempts to draw attention to the nefarious practices of the various constructions firms who have egregiously mistreated thousands of construction workers. These workers risk their lives to complete the infrastructure projects upon which society and the economy depend.  Construction Workers are the engine of economic development and the “wealth creators” of our society. They should have their rights to a safe working environment and security of employment, safeguarded. This arrest was heavy handed and an unnecessary restriction on Mr. Smith’s right to protest under Article 11 of the Human Rights Act 1998".

 The court will also be shown video footage and time stamped photographs of the arrest taken by the grassroots media collective Reel News info@reelnews.co.uk

http://youtu.be/eLuP7iYDAfg

http://youtu.be/72i1oSHOh48

For press quotes:

Dave Smith blacklistsg@gmail.com 

Liam Dunne ldunne@guneyclarkryan.com

Notes:

Attached photo shows Dave Smith handcuffed inside the police van - Hi-Res versions available from Guy Smallman (NUJ) guy.smallman@btopenworld.com

Press photo opportunity outside the Court at 9am Thursday - there is also a large public gallery.

There is currently a High Court group litigation on the blacklisting scandal with around 700 blacklisted workers against 40 of the largest firms in the UK construction industry. The full trial is set for May 2016 and will last 10 weeks. "

Early Day Motion calls on Pitchford Inquiry to investigate police collusion in blacklisting of trade unionists!

1. 'Blacklisted' has been given a full book review in the Guardian by the investigative journalist Rob Evans. Please circulate on social media & to your contacts as a way of supporting the campaign.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/undercover-with-paul-lewis-and-rob-evans/2015/jul/09/blacklisted-the-secret-war-between-big-business-and-union-activists-a-book-review?CMP=share_btn_tw

2. Tolpuddle Week 

Tuesday 14th July 

10am Blacklisting High Court trial continues

Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand

6pm TUCG Tolpuddle Seminar

Jubilee Room, Houses of Parliament 

Speakers include John McDonnell MP, Mark Serwotka (PCS), Michelle Stanistreet (NUJ),Steve  Gillan (POA), Christine Blower (NUT), Natalie Bennet (Green), Dave Smith (BSG)

Sat 18th July (10:30am)

Tolpuddle Festival blacklisting session with Phil Chamberlain 

3. Pitchford Inquiry into undercover policing - possible announcement this week

Have you contacted your MP to ask them to support the Early Day Motion #263 ? 

http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2015-16/263

Blacklisted Workers Strike Back!

ONE Monday morning in February 2009, four investigators from the Information Commissioner’s office knocked on a door in an alley in Droitwich, West Midlands. It was opened by 66-year-old Ian Kerr. David Clancy, head of investigations at the ICO, had spent months hunting for the Consulting Association, which had no nameplate above its green door and didn’t appear on official records. But this was the epicentre of a 30-year covert operation involving the country’s top construction firms and security services. Eventually the repercussions from this raid would be felt in boardrooms and parliaments around the world

For more go to http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/27/on-the-blacklist-building-firms-secret-information-on-workers

 

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/