The compensation will be paid by the firms after they agreed out of court settlements with the workers, avoiding a high court trial that was due to start next month.
The latest round of payments means that in total, the firms have been forced in the last three years to pay compensation of £35m to more than 1,200 blacklisted workers.
The firms checked the files when individual workers applied for jobs. Those deemed by the firms to be troublemakers were refused work. The workers were not told why they had been rejected. Some of them had raised health and safety concerns on building sites.
The files were housed in a nondescript office in Droitwich, Worcestershire, under the bland name of the Consulting Association. A decade ago, following an article in the Guardian, the official watchdog, the Information Commissioner, raided the office and closed down the blacklist, declaring it illegal.
The Information Commissioner made the files available to the blacklisted workers, who then launched legal action.
The eight firms announced on Tuesday that their offers of compensation had been accepted by the latest group of 53 blacklisted workers. They are Sir Robert McAlpine, Balfour Beatty, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Skanska UK, Vinci and Carillion.
The eight firms are locked in a dispute with Amec Foster Wheeler, as they argue it was involved in running the blacklist and should therefore pay a contribution towards the bill.
Unite had sought to force Cullum McAlpine, whom they consider to be a key architect of the blacklist, to give evidence at the trial, which was due to start on 4 June. The McAlpine director was also chairman of the Consulting Association when the blacklist was set up.
Police chiefs have admitted that they also supplied details of trade unionists to the blacklist in what they acknowledge was a 'potentially improper flow' of information.
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1 comment:
Same old story. Will blacklisting scum like Callum McAlpine ever face proper justice? Neither the unions or the BSG have ever managed to put any of these blacklister's in the dock to account for their nefarious activities and be cross-examined. These people hide behind sub judice rules and throw money at the workers who are compelled to settle out of court or risk losing everything. Most workers on the blacklist don't believe they've ever received justice!
Despite pleading guilty to conspiracy, breach of privacy, breach of data protection laws and violating human rights of privacy and freedom of association, McAlpines, were still awarded the contract to renovate Big Ben by Mrs May's Tory Government.
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