Who 'exposed blacklisting'?

A London Centric Re-writing of History.
National Shop Stewards Network [NSSN] 16, JAN 2018;

THIS week the National Shop Steward's Network Bulletin reported on the current Carillion scandal that the BLACKLIST SUPPORT GROUP [BSG]  'exposed blacklisting employers such as Carillion through a heroic campaign.'  

This is not true, because when the blacklist was first exposed the BSG didn't exist.  The NSSN say this because they are predisposed to a London centric analysis.

The BSG was only founded after the blacklist had been recognised by the chairman of an Employment Tribunal in the case of .Acheson & others v the electrical engineer for sub contractor Logic in 2007.   At that time Dave Smith, the national secretary of the Blacklist Support Group, has, I believe, made clear that he did not know about the blacklist until 2009,

The wrong-headed paragraph, which foolishly re-writes the history, from the NSSN newsletter is below:

'The Blacklist Support Group exposed blacklisting employers such as Carillion through a heroic campaign. We support their call that “the government should bail out the NHS not Carillon or their bankers. The government should nationalise Carillon now at the current market value of their shares (nothing) and go further by banning all of the construction companies involved in the blacklisting human rights conspiracy from any publicly funded contracts.”
This scandal shows once and for all that the parasitic privateer companies must be forced out of the NHS and the rest of the public sector. Last summer - porters, cleaners and domestics went on strike at Serco in Royal Barts NHS Trust. One of their main demands was to be again directly employed by the NHS.'

The exposure of the blacklist in the British building trade came about owing to the relentless efforts of what Derek Pattison and Brian Bamford as officers of Tameside TUC described in their book as 'The Boys on the Blacklist'.  This publication outlines the early campaigns in Manchester in Crown Square, and outside Manchester Royal Infirmary by a handful of local electricians.  If it hadn't been for the tenacity of these northern lads, members of the EPIU NW 1400/7 branch of what was in 2003 the Transport & General Workers Union, and is now the Greater Manchester Construction Branch, Alan Wainwright the Carillion whistle-blower wouldn't have contacted the secretary of the above branch leading directly to the case at the Manchester Employment Tribunal in which the existence of the blacklist was finally recognised:  see link below.

Read more on how the blacklist in the British building trade was exposed:  www.labournet.net/ukunion/0707/mcrelec2.html

****** 

Blacklisting & Construction Union Collusion Claim?

BELOW is the full text of the original Open Letter dated December 20, 2016, which may have forced the hand of Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, to agree to commission a barrister to examine allegations that union officials colluded with a covert blacklisting operation financed by major firms(with more names added):

OPEN LETTER FROM BLACKLISTED CONSTRUCTION WORKERS:

WE the undersigned, are writing this open letter in the spirit of fraternal debate amongst members of the newly merged UCATT / UNITE construction union.
The upsurge in industrial militancy in the last few years demonstrates that when the official union works alongside rank and file activists, it is possible to mobilise workers even in a hostile environment. The merger offers an opportunity to start anew the fight against the appallingly high fatality rates and casualization of the construction industry by combining the best traditions of the two unions.
However, one issue threatens to cause internal friction: possible union collusion in blacklisting.
Some years ago, both UCATT and UNITE carried out internal investigations into possible union involvement in blacklisting. But that was at a time when barely any of the documentation was available.
Since the High Court, all that has changed. The employers were forced to provide witness statements and disclose 40 years worth of documentary evidence. It is now in the public domain that officials in both unions were recorded as the source of information on Economic League and Consulting Association blacklist files. Some of those named, remain senior officials in UNITE and UCATT to this day. Every union activist in construction knows who the named officials are, as does every major employer.
The leadership of both unions have now seen the evidence: discussions about those officials potentially implicated in blacklisting or with overly cosy relationships with industrial relations managers has been part of the behind the scenes discussions in the run up to the merger.
The High Court litigation won a multi-million pound settlement for blacklisted workers. We fully acknowledge and recognise the tremendous legal, political and industrial campaigns that the unions have undertook.
But compensation is not the same as justice: there has still been no-one held accountable for their actions. We remain resolute in calling for a public inquiry into blacklisting. But that is for a future Corbyn government. Now is the time to put our own house in order.
We the undersigned call upon the new UNITE construction section to engage an independent legal expert to carry out a thorough investigation of the allegations relating to union collusion in blacklisting, with a remit drawn up in conjunction with the blacklisted workers. If the implicated officials are completely innocent, then this is their opportunity to clear their name once and for all.  But if the independent investigation concludes that there is a case to answer, then the union should take the appropriate disciplinary action. We are not looking for a witch-hunt, we simply want answers into possible union collusion in order to avoid repeating mistakes of the past.
This issue has haunted the union for years and until it is prepared to act, it will continue to be a running sore that hinders building unity in the newly merged union. We need to unite in order to fight against unscrupulous employers and the Tories, but the newly merged union needs to start with a clean slate.
We urge members to please attend your branch or regional meetings, and send a motion in support of an independent investigation to the UNITE EC.

Yours fraternally:

Blacklist Support Group

Construction Rank and File (national)

(plus in a personal capacity)

Steve Acheson – ex-UNITE branch secretary & safety rep

Dave Ayre – ex-Crook UCATT branch secretary

Royston Bentham – ex-UCATT steward & secretary UNITE Liverpool construction

Graham Bowker – treasurer UNITE Manchester contracting branch

Graeme Boxall – branch secretary UNITE London construction branch

Ian Bradley – UNITE London contracting branch

Terry Brough – ex-UCATT North West Regional Council

John Bryan – retired Bermondsey UCATT

Daniel Collins – UNITE London construction branch

John Connolly – UNITE Liverpool

Paul Crimmins – ex-UCATT branch secretary & steward

Dan Dobson – ex-UNITE SE construction branch secretary

Stewart Emms – ex UCATT full time officials

Peter Farrell – UCATT, Construction Safety Campaign

John Flannaghan – ex-UCATT, now UNITE

Jack Fawbert – ex-UCATT convener

Lee James Fowler – ex-offshore safety rep, UNITE

George Fuller – ex-UCATT safety rep

Jim Grey – Jubilee Line steward, UNITE London contracting

Jim Harte – chair UNITE Combine Committee

Brian Higgins – ex-UCATT Eastern Regional Council & branch secretary

Kev Holmes – chair, UNITE Manchester construction branch

Stewart Hume – UNITE construction NISC

John Jones – ex-UCATT London Regional Council

Tony Jones – UNITE Manchester construction branch

Bill Kaye – UNITE Eastern Region

Steve Kelly – Jubilee Line steward, ex-UNITE branch secretary

Stephen Kennedy – Jubilee Line steward, UNITE

Greig McArthur – UNITE construction NISC

Frank Morris –UNITE EC member for construction

Tony O’Brien – ex-UCATT Southwark convenor & branch secretary

Jason Poulter – secretary UNITE Manchester construction branch

Jim Ryan –Crossrail steward, UNITE London contracting

Tony Seaman – UNITE construction NISC

Pete Shaw – UNITE construction RISC, Combine committee

Dave Smith – ex-UCATT branch secretary & London Regional Council

Frank Smith – ex-UCATT branch secretary & steward

Billy Spiers – chair UNITE construction NISC, ex-AMICUS EC member

Tony Sweeney- ex-UCATT Liverpool convener

Colin Trousdale – ex-UNITE NW Region RISC

Victor Williams – Unite construction

Challenging Tourismofobia in Barcelona!

 by Brian Bamford

ACTIVISTS in Barcelona have recently targeted tourists as part of a campaign against overcrowding, rising rents and house prices.  Responsibility for a recent attack on a sightseeing bus near the Nou Camp football stadium was claimed by Arran Jovent, a group linked to the anti-capitalist, Catalan pro-independence party, Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP).  

There is a precedent for the current anti-tourist sentiment that is now flourishing in parts of Spain that has a long history that goes back at least to 1963, when I was first there. 

 'The representative of financial institutions told us that the Spanish legislation was great.  He says this when people are taking their own lives because of this criminal law, I assure you—I assure you that I haven't thrown a shoe at this man, because I believed it was important to be here now to tell you what I’m telling you. But this man is a criminal and should be treated like one.'

  These words came from the anti-eviction activist Ada Colau 

in the Chamber of Deputies of Spain in February 2013.

In February 2013, Ada Colau who has since become the mayor of Barcelona, was giving a evidence to a Spanish parliamentary hearing.  Colau had helped to set up a grassroots organisation, the Platform for Mortgage Victims (PAH), which championed the rights of citizens unable to pay their mortgages or threatened with eviction. Founded in 2009, the PAH quickly became a model for other activists, and a nationwide network of leaderless local groups emerged.  

At that time people across Spain were joining together to campaign against mortgage lenders, occupy banks and physically block bailiffs from carrying out evictions. 

Ada Colau was there to discuss the housing crisis that had devastated Spain.  Since the financial crisis began, 400,000 homes had been foreclosed and a further 3.4m properties lay empty.  In response, Colau had helped to set up a grassroots organisation, the Platform for Mortgage Victims (PAH), which championed the rights of citizens unable to pay their mortgages or threatened with eviction. Founded in 2009, the PAH quickly became a model for other activists, and a nationwide network of leaderless local groups emerged. Soon, people across Spain were campaigning against mortgage lenders, occupying banks and physically blocking bailiffs from carrying out evictions.

Others believe Ada Colau and her supporters will have difficulties in transforming the two-party democracy that has ruled Spain since the days of General Franco.  

'I don’t think the ideas of a city can be based on what a citizen’s assembly wants – it’s absurd,' said Francesc de Carreras, a constitutional law professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. 'Democracy doesn’t mean that everyone expresses their desires and they come true by some miracle.

'It’s not a good idea to have citizens participate in these things. We’re not the ones who have skills in these areas,' he said. 'I don’t go into a restaurant and tell them how to cook.'

'The Barcelona model is in decline,' said journalist Marta Monedero, referring to the ideas that guided the city’s growth in the late 1980s and early 1990s and helped put Barcelona on the world map.  'The model was a way to understand the city and bring it closer to the people – there wasn’t a lot of money so they came up with things like having lots of squares and intensifying the social fabric of the city through organisations.'

Monedero recently co-edited a book called The Dream of Barcelona: A City in Which to Live or to See?, in which she and journalist Núria Cuadrado asked residents from various sectors of society about the issues facing the city.  What they found was that the model that had once been so successful in guiding the city was now deeply out of sync with everyday reality.  Unlike in the late 1980s, today around 17% of the city’s population is foreign born.  Housing activists say that some 15 residents a day were evicted from their homes in 2014.  Until recently like other cities across Spain, unemployment remains stubbornly in double digits, while the young and educated continue to leave the city in hopes of finding work abroad.

Eduard Masjuan*

In 2006, the anarcho-syndicalist Spanish CGT trade union federation in Barcelona at the request of Tameside Trade Union Council in Greater Manchester, sent an expert on urban housing, Eduard Masjuan Bracons, to speak at Manchester Friends Meeting House about the problems of urban living, housing, planning and design.  The then active Manchester Social Forum was also party to the invite of Eduard Masjuan from the Universitat de Barcelona (Historia Economica), and the Manchester electricians in the then EPIU branch 1400/07, who later were famously in the forefront in exposing the blacklist in the British building trade, were present at the presentation fresh from fighting a case at the Manchester Employment Tribunal. 

The Manchester electrician, Steve Acheson, told the meeting about the problems of health and safety and conditions on the building sites, and what at that time were perceived as being victimisation against trade unionists and safety representatives on the local building sites.  The Calalan academic, Señor Masjuan addressed the urban problems in the city of Barcelona:  the shifting of local residents out from the central barrios to the peripheral suburban areas; and the corruption that was evident in the politics of all parties in the city. 

The predicament of the residents of Barcelona and the electricians on the British building sites were not so dissimilar in 2006.  The young people of Barcelona could not afford the rising prices of appartments in the Catalan capital, and in the same way even today we learn that many of the construction workers who work on building sites can't afford to buy the buildings they are errecting.  

In 2013, when Ada Colau addressed the parliamentary committee, ten minutes into Colau’s 40-minute testimony she broke from the script.  Her voice cracking with emotion, she turned her attention to the previous speaker, Javier Rodriguez Pellitero, the deputy general secretary of the Spanish Banking Association:   

'This man is a criminal, and should be treated as such.  He is not an expert.  The representatives of financial institutions have caused this problem; they are the same people who have caused the problem that has ruined the entire economy of this country – and you keep calling them experts.'

When she had finished, the white-haired chair of the parliament’s economic committee turned to Colau and asked her to withdraw her “very serious offences” in slandering Pellitero.  She shook her head and quietly declined.

The 'criminal' video became a media sensation, earning Colau condemnation in some quarters and heroine status in others.  A poll for the Spanish newspaper El País a few weeks later revealed that 90% of the country’s population approved of the PAH.  The group’s work continued.  In July 2013, Colau was photographed in Barcelona being dragged away by riot police from a protest against a bank that had refused to negotiate with an evicted family.


*  Books by Eduard Masjuan:

• • E. Masjuan, H.M. Elena & D. Saurí, "Conflicts and struggles over urban water cycles: The case de Barcelona",
  • E. Masjuan, "La cultura de la naturaleza en el anarquismo ibérico y cubano", Signos históricos, 15 (2006), p. 98-122.
  • E. Masjuan, "El pensamiento demográfico anarquista: fecundidad y emigración a América Latina (1900-1914)", Revista de demografía histórica, (2004), p. 153-180.
  • E. Masjuan, "Medis obrers, conflictivitat social i innovació cultural a Sabadell (1877-1914)", Recerques, 47-48 (2004), p. 131-155.
  • E. Masjuan, "Procreación consciente y discurso ambientalista: anarquismo y neomalthusianismo en España e Italia, 1900-1936", Ayer, 46 (2002), pp. 63-92.
• Altres publicacions:
  • E. Masjuan, Un héroe trágico del anarquismo español. Mateo Morral, 1879-1906, Barcelona: Icaria editorial, 2009.
  • E. Masjuan, "Élisée Reclus (1830-1905) i la nova cultura de la naturalesa en els medis obrers de 1900-1936", a Ciència i compromís social. Élisée Reclus (1830-1905) i la geografia de la llibertat, Barcelona: Residència d'Investigadors CSIC-Generalitat de Catalunya, s2007.
  • E. Masjuan, Medis obrers i innovació cultural a Sabadell, (1900-1939), Bellaterra: Servei de Publicacions de la UAB, 2006.
  • E. Masjuan, La Ecología humana en el anarquismo ibérico. Urbanismo orgánico u ecológico, neomalthusianismo y naturismo social, Barcelona: Icaria editorial, 2000.
  • E. Masjuan, "El urbanismo ecológico de Patrick Geddes y Cebrià de Montoliu", a Arturo Soria y el urbanismo europeo de su tiempo, 1894-1994, Madrid: Fundación Cultural del Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid, 1996, pp. 51-65.

Call for Probe into Union Collusion in Blacklisting

WE THE undersigned, are writing this open letter in the spirit of fraternal debate among members of the newly merged Ucatt / Unite construction union.

The upsurge in industrial militancy in the last few years demonstrates that when the official union works alongside rank and file activists, it is possible to mobilise workers even in a hostile environment. The merger offers an opportunity to start anew the fight against the appallingly high fatality rates and casualisation of the construction industry by combining the best traditions of the two unions.

However, one issue threatens to cause internal friction:  possible union collusion in blacklisting.

Some years ago, both Ucatt and Unite carried out internal investigations into possible union involvement in blacklisting.  But that was at a time when barely any of the documentation was available.

Since the High Court case, all that has changed.  The employers were forced to provide witness statements and disclose 40 years’ worth of documentary evidence. It is now in the public domain that officials in both unions were recorded as the source of information on Economic League and Consulting Association blacklist files.  Some of those named, remain senior officials in Unite and Ucatt to this day.  Every union activist in construction knows who the named officials are, as does every major employer.

The leadership of both unions have now seen the evidence: discussions about those officials potentially implicated in blacklisting or with overly cosy relationships with industrial relations managers has been part of the behind the scenes discussions in the run-up to the merger.

The High Court litigation won a multimillion-pound settlement for blacklisted workers.  We fully acknowledge and recognise the tremendous legal, political and industrial campaigns that the unions have undertaken.

But compensation is not the same as justice.  No-one has been held accountable for their actions.   We remain resolute in calling for a public inquiry into blacklisting.  But that is for a future Corbyn government.  Now is the time to put our own house in order.

We the undersigned call upon the new Unite construction section to engage an independent legal expert to carry out a thorough investigation of the allegations relating to union collusion in blacklisting, with a remit drawn up in conjunction with the blacklisted workers.   If the implicated officials are completely innocent, then this is their opportunity to clear their name once and for all.  But if the independent investigation concludes that there is a case to answer, then the union should take the appropriate disciplinary action.  We are not looking for a witch-hunt, we simply want answers into possible union collusion in order to avoid repeating mistakes of the past.

This issue has haunted the union for years and until it is prepared to act, it will continue to be a running sore that hinders building unity in the newly merged union.  We need to unite in order to fight against unscrupulous employers and the Tories, but the newly merged union needs to start with a clean slate.

We urge members to please attend your branch or regional meetings, and send a motion in support of an independent investigation to the Unite EC.

Blacklist Support Group

Construction Rank and File (national)

And (in personal capacity)

• Steve Acheson, ex-Unite branch secretary and safety rep

• Dave Ayre, ex-Crook Ucatt branch secretary

• Brian Bamford, Secretary of Bury Unite Commercial Branch.
. Roy Bentham, ex-Ucatt steward and secretary Unite Liverpool construction

• Graham Bowker, treasurer Unite Manchester contracting branch

• Graeme Boxall, branch secretary Unite London construction branch

• Ian Bradley, Unite London contracting branch

• John Bryan, retired Bermondsey Ucatt

• Dan Collins, Unite London construction branch

• John Connolly, Unite Liverpool

• Paul Crimmins, ex-Ucatt branch secretary and steward

• Keith Dobie – ex-Ucatt steward & Tottenham branch president

• Stewart Emms, ex-Ucatt full time official

• John Flannaghan, ex-Ucatt, Merseyside Asbestos Victims Support Group

• Jack Fawbert, ex-Ucatt convener

• Lee Fowler, ex-offshore safety rep, Unite

• George Fuller, ex-Ucatt safety rep

• Jim Grey, Jubilee Line steward, Unite London contracting

• Jim Harte, chair Unite combine committee

• Brian Higgins, ex-Ucatt eastern regional council and branch secretary

• Kevin Holmes, chair, Unite Manchester construction branch

• Stewart Hume, Unite construction NISC

• John Jones, ex-Ucatt London regional council

• Tony Jones, Unite Manchester construction branch

• Steve Kelly, Jubilee Line steward, ex-Unite branch secretary

• Stephen Kennedy, Jubilee Line steward, Unite

• Greig McArthur, Unite construction NISC

• Frank Morris, Unite EC member for construction

• Kenny Newton, Unite construction

• Tony O’Brien, ex-Ucatt convenor and branch secretary

• Derek Pattison, Unite member and Chair of Tameside TUC
. Jason Poulter, secretary Unite Manchester construction branch

• Jim Ryan, Crossrail steward, Unite London contracting

• Tony Seaman – UNITE NISC, Middlesbrough branch secretary

• Pete Shaw, Unite construction RISC, Combine committee

• Dave Smith, ex-Ucatt branch secretary and London regional council

• Frank Smith, ex-Ucatt branch secretary and steward

• Billy Spiers, chair Unite construction NISC, ex-Amicus EC

• Tony Sweeney, ex-Ucatt Liverpool convener

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-85ef-Light-must-be-shed-on-trade-unions-blacklist-collusion

Blacklist Support Group

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

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

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

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

Blacklist Round-up

1. Spycops

http://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-e72d-Warping-justice-by-neither-confirming-nor-denying#.WERmBDKcY0R

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RidYxAe3fRY 

CONFIRMED: ''Carlo Neri' who spied on picket lines was an undercover police officer.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/undercover-with-paul-lewis-and-rob-evans/2016/nov/21/public-inquiry-confirms-the-identities-of-more-police-spies

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-a864-Carlo-Neri-officially-confirmed-as-an-undercover-cop#.WDyoizKcY0Q

http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2016/11/18/official-marco-jacobs-carlo-neri-were-spycops/

http://www.union-news.co.uk/trade-union-spy-was-one-of-us-admit-cops/

2. Crossrail hit by action over pay and bosses victimization of UNITE steward

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HOs3yWSTp_k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8jK4zkMReI&feature=share

https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-d795-Crossrail-Occupied#.WERrXzKcY0R

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-9928-Bosses-Fright-at-Crossrail-Strike#.WERmcTKcY0S

http://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-6bbf-Activists-accuse-Crossrail-bosses-of-shipping-in-scabs#.WERlATKcY0S

https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/43759/Crossrail+workers+occupy+bosses+office+in+protest+over+missing+bonus

http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2016/11/30/electricians-down-tools-on-crossrail-site/

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-0085-Crossrail-revokes-threats-to-punish-protesting-workers#.WERl3TKcY0S

Defend Terry Wilson - victimized UNITE steward

6:30am Monday 5th December

Tottenham Court Rd Crossrail site

3. Laing O'Rourke

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-c619-Blacklisting-firms-still-given-public-sector-contracts#.WDypGjKcY0Qhttps://www.ucatt.org.uk/ucatt-welcomes-early-day-motion-commons-listing-abuses-crossrail-and-denying-union-access

http://www.scottishconstructionnow.com/16119/laing-orourke-accused-of-backdoor-blacklisting-as-union-conflict-escalates/

Early Day Motion

Motion S5M-02472: Colin Smyth, South Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 11/11/2016
Denial of Union Access by Laing O'Rourke 
That the Parliament notes the recent demonstration by the construction workers’ union, UCATT, at the site of the new £212 million Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary in response to the reports that the principal contractor, Laing O’Rourke, has refused the union access; believes that this company has previously prevented union access from other publicly-funded infrastructure projects; understands that it was a member of the Consulting Association, which was reportedly involved in the blacklisting of construction workers; believes that the Scottish Government expects companies that are awarded public contracts to maintain high standards of business and professional conduct; considers that this type of activity by a contractor toward trade unions undermines the remedial steps called for in the government's procurement note on blacklisting, does not support the aspirations of the Fair Work Convention to promote a fair and balanced economy and undermines workers’ rights and increases exploitation, and supports the freedom of trade unions to organise and represent workers across the economy.

4. US blacklist of leftwing academics

 http://www.businessinsider.com/college-professor-watchlist-expose-professors-who-advance-leftist-propaganda-2016-11?IR=T

5. Thank you to Salford TUC, SNP Trade Union Group, PCS Independent Left, Unite Liverpool construction branch for invites in the past few weeks.  Thank you John Bryan and Steve Acheson for representing.

Steve Acheson speaking at Salford TUC:

"I was blacklisted after a safety dispute at Pfizers in Kent. I was repeatedly sacked from jobs time and again. I appeared in the Royal Courts of Justice over terrorism. The High Court was not a full victory that blacklisted workers deserved. I will be relentless until we get justice".

6. Shrewsbury Pickets

Shrewsbury Pickets have engaged Mike Mansfield QC who has submitted papers to the Court of Appeal against the continued refusal to release the official government papers for the Shrewsbury trial.

7. Ongoing:

Durham TAs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdhpN1itKX8&feature=youtu.be

Construction Rank & File - national meeting

Sat 10th December - Newcastle 

London Hazards AGM

Tues 13th December

https://philipjameslewis.wordpress.com/2016/12/01/invitation-to-attend-london-hazards-centre-trustees-agm-and-to-affiliate-or-subscribe/

'Boys on the Blacklist'

 THE Tameside TUC book 'Boys on the Blacklist', sponsored by the North West TUC, and credited by Dave Smith as being a complimentary document alongside the Blacklist Support Group's own book 'Blacklisted: The secret war between big business and union activists' is still on sale.     The first edition of 'Boys on the Blacklist' sold out in just over a month and it is now on its 3rd print- run.

 A presentation of the Tameside TUC book 'Boys on the Blacklist'
was done at the TUC Annual General Meeting at the Manchester Mechanics Institute on the 22nd, November 2014.  The book was also on sale the same night at the Lantern Theatre in Sheffield, at the showing of the play about the Shrewsbury pickets:  'UNITED WE STAND'.  In January 2015, there was a presentation by Tameside TUC and one of the blacklisted electricians at a meeting of Liverpool TUC.  Further launches of the Tameside TUC book followed at the Barnsley performance of 'United We Stand'; at the Moston Miners Arts Club; at the Bury Met.; at Leeds Carriage Theatre; at the St Michael's Irish Centre in Liverpool; and at the Harrogate NUT Conference in April. 

  Tameside TUC's in-depth Report & Study of Blacklisting in the British building trade

OUT now is Tameside TUC's study of blacklisting in the British building trade.  This unique 52-page A5 book concludes our research into blacklisting stretching back for over a decade of struggle by a group of Manchester contracting electricians.  This book illustrates a special investigation by two officers of Tameside TUC focusing on cover-ups, collaboration, and complicity by major British construction companies affiliated to the now defunct Consulting Association.  We consider the behaviour of local authorities in providing contracts to companies that blacklist workers in the British building trade; especially those in the Greater Manchester area such as Tameside MBC, Salford and Manchester City Council.  The book also asks questions as to who else was involved besides:  what did the unions do to expose what was going on for decades; who were the whistle-blowers who helped to bring out the truth; what part did the police and special security services play in the history of blacklisting that goes back beyond the days of the Economic League?

Copies of 'Boys on the Blacklist' available by postal subscription:
£3.53 for one copy (post included).

Make cheque payable to 'Tameside TUC' and send to:
46, Kingsland Road, Rochdale, Lancs.  OL11  3HQ.

Bundles of 5 copies - £16.60p a package (post included).

Tel.:  01706 861793.
e-mail:  northernvoices@hotmail.com 

Launch of book on Blacklist Scandal!

COME & JOIN THOSE OF US

WHO KICKED-OFF THE CAMPAIGN

AGAINST THE BLACKLIST IN 2003:

The venue is literally yards away from

where it all began in Crown Square

in 2003 with the Manchester lads:

Steve Acheson, Graham Bowker,

Colin Trousdale, Tony Jones,

and Sean Keaveney.

Book launch & then party from 9pm

 Kings Arms booked for BSG event Friday 1st May from 7pm.

Everyone else - spread the word (posters & flyers will be sorted from my end)

'Blacklisted' - the book by Phil Chamberlain & Dave Smith

will be available at the above venue on the 1st, May.

 

Otherwise, the book on the blacklisting scandal will be available

to buy from the first week in March. Pre-orders are available

via the New Internationalist website: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/

 

In order to maximise the impact in the General Election period (we are still campaigning for a full public inquiry) it would be very useful if people visited their local library & bookshops and asked them to get copies in. BSG is asking for supporters to arrange speaking dates at union meetings, universities, bookshops, festivals throughout March, April and May. Thank you to all those who have already been in contact. If you wish to arrange a meeting, contact blacklistsg@gmail.com 

 

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/

Letter to Freedom on Blacklisting

The letter below was sent to Freedom, the London 'anarchist paper', a few years ago following a rather wrong-headed and ill-considered report, which showed that the 'anarchist' paper existed even then in a London-centric bubble.  I don't recall if this letter was ever published by Freedom at that time. 
 

It is interesting that the correpondent writes 'It is a surprise...to see little organised action by anarchists in relation to the spark's dispute', when it has been Tameside TUC with an anarcho-syndicalist President and Secretary, that from 2003 has been at the forefront of actions on behalf of the electricians.  And, it is Tameside TUC that has now published a book 'Boys on the Blacklist' funded by the TUC, that is circulating  all over England and Scotland. 

The tragedy is that because of his proximity to the Manchester Social Forum around 2003/4 that Steve Acheson came to be registered in the files of the Consulting Association as 'becoming an anarchist'.

 

Now in the this country, unlike Spain, France and some other countries, it is looked down upon to be identified as 'an anarchist'.  We should ask why is this the case?  Why is it that Steve Acheson, in sueing the contstruction company affiliates of the Consulting Association, considers it a 'detriment' or 'defamitory' to be regarded as an anarchist in England today?  The reasons are not difficult to find, because many English anarchists are half-baked and ignorant as this article and many other articles

in Freedom in the last 10-years amply demonstrated:

Dear Freedom, 

Your correspondent in the January issue of FREEDOM who writes of the electrician's dispute and 'The return of rank & fileism' is seriously misinformed when writing that '(i)t is a surprise ... to see little organised action by anarchists in relation to the sparks dispute' and simply refers to AF and Sol. Fed's involvement in the recent demos and occupations in London.  It suggests a London centric and southern bias on the part of your paper these days which may be partly our fault.  The fact is the present electricians campaigns throughout the country have their origins in the Manchester electrician's fight against the blacklist in the building trade and particularly the involvement of the Manchester EPIU/ Unite Contracting Branch, at which I as the Secretary of Bury Unite Branch and Tameside TUC regularly attend.   

Indeed, it was as Secretary of Tameside TUC that in 2005 at the Liverpool National Conference of Trade Union Councils that I seconded a motion condemning the blacklist in the British building trade.  Again in 2009 at the regional Conference of the North West TUC following the raid of the Information Commissioner which discovered evidence of a national blacklist in the construction industry, I, again as Secretary of Tameside TUC, seconded a motion from UCATT denouncing the blacklist.  These a few of the things we have done at a formal trade union level in support of the electricians since the DAF dispute in Manchester Piccadilly in 2003, and I myself have worked as a maintenance electrician for many years both in this country, in Spain with the FIJL (young Spanish  libertarians) and Gibraltar (with Jose Netto, Secretary of the TGWU and former member of the Syndicalist Workers Federation).   

At a political level the Northern Anarchist Network (NAN) has had speakers from the electricians EPIU anti-blacklist campaigns since 2004.  Indeed, Steve Acherson, Secretary of Manchester Unite/ EPIU Branch, who spoke at public meetings organised by the Greater Manchester Social Forum became so close to us that he was described in his blacklist file as 'becoming an anarchist'.  Like much in those files it is not true of course, and he may even see it as 'defamatory'.  The fact remains that Tameside TUC. to which the Manchester EPIU Branch is affiliated, has an anarcho-syndicalist Secretary and President both who regularly attend NAN Conferences and decades of experience in the anarchist movement. 

As recent as December, Tameside TUC and the electricians organised a joint demo outside Ashton Town Hall to protest at the local council's links to Carillion a company accused of blacklisting electricians.  There were several local anarchists on this protest.  On the Northern Voices Blog there are dozens of reports on the campaign against the blacklist, Northern Voices has covered this campaign for donkey's years and as long ago as Autumn 2003 there is a report in NV2 about it.  We have also helped produce a rank & file publication the 'North West Cowboy' on behalf of the electricians and until the break-up last year of the National Shop Stewards Network Tameside Trades Council had an input on behalf of the electricians.  The difference now is that following groundwork in Greater Manchester and the North West including pickets at DAF in Manchester Piccadilly 2003; Manchester Law Courts 2004; Manchester Royal Infirmary 2006/ 7; Media City Salford 2010/ 11; the Rock in Bury 2008; Fiddlers Ferry 2009 to current, and the raid on the Consulting Association by the Information Commissioner in 2009, there has developed a more national campaign around the London based Blacklist Support Group and Unite branches in other regions like the North East.  Hope this clarifies things a bit. 

Regards,   

Brian

 

 

Today's Blacklist Events!

'I’ve been sacked so many times at Christmas that my kids thought it was part of the Father Christmas story, except that the ‘sack’ was empty'. 

Blacklisted bricklayer and UCATT branch secretary, Dave Ayre from Crook, County Durham 

Wednesday 17th December

9:30am - High Court blacklisting trial continues (Photo-opportunity for the press) 

Royal Courts of Justice

The Strand

4:30pm Blacklist Support Group parliamentary meeting (press welcome) 

Committee Room 17

Houses of Parliament

Westminster

Update from the High Court legal action plus ongoing campaign including the compensation scheme, public inquiry, police collusion, publicly funded contracts. Expect some breaking news.

Speakers: John McDonnell MP, Dave Smith (BSG sec), Steve Acheson / Steve Kelly (BSG co-chairs), Justin Bowden (GMB), Liam Dunne (GCR solicitors), Howard Beckett (UNITE Legal) 

7pm - BSG Festive drink (we deserve it) 

Westminster Arms

Storey's Gate

Westminster

London

SW1H 9NH

Blacklist Support Group

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

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

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

Difficulties in getting 'Boys on the Blacklist'?

A reader recently wrote: 
'I would really like to purchase a copy of this but I don't have a chequebook.  Is there another way that I could pay for a copy?'


She was asking about buying a copy of 'Boys on the Blacklist' published by Tameside TUC and partly funded by the North West TUC as part of its grants to Trade Union Councils.  Understandably, the TUC has issued a disclaimer until it has had time to peruse and scrutinise its contents to see if its contents and conclusions meet with the policies of the TUC. At present the person charged with this is at present out of the country, and we will await her decision with interest.  Meanwhile the regional secretary of Unite the Union in the North West has placed the book on the agenda of the Finance & General Purposes Committee for its consideration.


This book has been available for almost three weeks and the first print order has now almost sold out.  We hope to reprint the book in the coming weeks.  It is selling remarkably well among trade unionists across the country, and was available on the Unite Manchester train to London for the TUC March on the 18th, October.  On that occasion Steve Acheson, who has led the campaign against the blacklist in the Manchester for over a decade, was signing copies of the book.


At the moment because casual sales are doing so well we have resisted placing copies in bookshops in the North.  Copies were being sold on the Crocodile Protest by the GMB union at G-Mex today.  However, a few outlets have taken a few copies including Housemans, Freedom Bookshop in London, Hydra the Bristol Radical History community bookshop, and Bob Jones's Northern Herald Books in Bradford.  Housemans Bookshop was mentioned by Ian Kerr before the Scottish Affairs Select Committee as the outlet in London at which he used to buy left-wing publications for his purposes of collecting intelligence and information to fill his blacklist files at the now defunct Consulting Association, which was closed down by the Information Commissioner in February 2009.

Police pay compensation to victims of undercover policing operations!

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

"1. Recent press coverage from High Court etc....

http://www.newzulu.co.uk/en/photos/news/2014-10-16/8352/london-construction-workers-gather-at-court.html#f=0/118713

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-d479-Blacklisted-workers-refuse-to-back-down#.VEiskAnUaoQ.facebook

http://thebristolcable.org/2014/10/blacklisting-in-bristol/

2. Crocodile Tears Tour 

The GMB union are targeting the senior managers named in parliament as the "main contacts" at the blacklisting companies. This is a tour around every part of the UK - please check to see when they visit your area. Everyone is welcome to attend - bring your banners and t-shirts - Any blacklisted workers in attendance can virtually guarantee to make the local media. 

http://www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/crocodile-tears-bedfordshire-protest-on-blacklisting

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-7874-Activists-name-and-shame-alleged-DWP-blacklister#.VEiYLyKjOSo

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/11549372.Demonstrators_in_Darlington_protest_against_blacklisting/?ref=mr

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-23ea-Anti-blacklist-tour-heads-to-Wolverhampton-for-third-day#.VEomkCKjOSo

This week (all protests start at 11am) :

Tues 28th October 

Paul McCreath, 
HR Director, 
Kier Group: 
Tempsford Hall, 
Sandy, 
Bedfordshire 
SG19 2BD

Tues 28th October 

Kathy Almansoor, 
Group Employee Relations Manager, 
Kier Group: 
Tempsford Hall, 
Sandy, 
Bedfordshire

Glasgow 29th October 

Gerry Harvey, 

HR Development Director at Balfour Beatty Engineering Services: 
Lumina Building, 
40 Ainslie Road, 
Hillngton Park, 
Glasgow

Aberdeen 30th October 
Kevin Gorman, 
Vice President HR, 
Harland Group: 
Ocean Spirit House, 
33 Waterloo Quay, 
Aberdeen AB11 5BS.

3. BLACKLISTING DEMO IN DUNDEE

Dundee City Council 

5:30pm Monday 27th October 

Demo is against the decision taken to make blacklisting firm BAM the preferred bidder for the V&A project. This campaign has been led by Francie Graham and Stuert Merchant, 2 retired blacklisted electricians from Dundee. 

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/dundee/trade-unionists-to-hold-dundee-v-a-contractor-blacklisting-protest-1.644621

4. 'Boys on the Blacklist' pamphlet out now

Many workers complained and campaigned against blacklisting for decades but it was the dispute at Manchester Royal Infirmary that finally lifted the lid on the Consulting Association. A new pamphlet by Tameside TUC tells the story of how the blacklist was uncovered.    

http://www.northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/boys-on-blacklist-out-now.html

5. Construction national rank & file meeting

1-4pm 15th November 2014

Newcastle Labour Club

https://www.facebook.com/events/741533262577799/

6. Police finally admit and compensate for undercover spying on activists

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/23/police-compensation-payout-woman-undercover-officer

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/24/mi5-spied-historians-eric-hobsbawm-christopher-hill-secret-files

http://policespiesoutoflives.org.uk/met-settles-1-case-still-many/

Events about undercover police spying on activists: 

http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2014/10/25/cops-public-meeting/

http://www.defendtherighttoprotest.org/national-conference/

7. North Sea safety 

After all the pleas and hand wringing about helicopter safety in the North Sea - the powers that be decide there is no need for a public inquiry. 

http://www.oilandgaspeople.com/news/1132/no-public-inquiry-over-offshore-helicopters-and-commercial-pressure/

8. Umbrella companies exposed by Daily Mirror 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/workers-were-promised-13-hour-4486402

9. Theatre

United We Stand - play about the Shrewsbury Pickets on tour now: http://www.townsendproductions.org.uk/productions/united-we-stand

Mark Thomas award winning show Cuckooed about corporate spying on tour now: http://www.markthomasinfo.co.uk/section_gigs/ 

Spread the word and keep the faith 

Dave

Barcelona: Making Everywhere the Same!

Threat to our culture from globalisation 

LAST July, residents of La Barceloneta, a seaside area of Barcelona, held street protests to object about the noisy tourists hanging around, and putting-up in overcrowded and unlicensed rented appartments.  This is port suburb of the city, where when I first visited in early 1963 it had a shanty encampment of migrant workers on the beach, and I wrote an article for the FIJL (young libertarian/ anarchist) publication 'Nueva Senda' entitled 'Where the tourist never go!'.  But since 1992, when this port area was tarted-up and overhauled for the Summer Olympic Games, this area has become more fashionable and tourist friendly. 

Barcelona had a record 7.5 million visitors last year, compared with about 1.5 million visitors before 1992.  More recently with the slow removal of rent controls Barcelona has suffered from a gradual gentrification with traditional shops being priced out by multi-national stores in the older parts of the city, and this is now destroying the character of the old historic town and provoking a questioning of what's going on.  Next May, Barcelona is down to hold municipal elections, and these issues are now on the political  agenda.  

 

Ada Colau, who is expected to run for Mayor of Barcelona as the candidate of of a leftist civic platform, has said she and her family stopped going to the Gothic Quarter because it was overwhelmed by foreign tourists and global brands.  She has said:  'The main attaction of Barcelona is a certain way of living, but we are allowing this to be replaced by what I would call a fast-food model.' 

In 2005, Tameside Trade Union Council invited the Catalan town planner Edward Masjuan, who was then associated with the Spanish anarcho-syndicalist CGT (General Confederation of Labour), to Manchester, and he spoke alongside the blacklisted electrician Steve Acheson at the Friend's Meeting House.  Mr. Masjuan then told us of the difficulties the city of Barcelona was facing, including the planning failures that had forced many of the traditional residents of the city out of the centre and areas like Barceloneta.  This had led to many having to live on the outskirts of the city and created social problems.  Masjuan also said that at that time political corruption was a serious concern in the city.  

Now with many traditional shops having to close down because of the higher rents being asked many jobs are being lost and it seems that the multi-national stores are winning the battle for business.