B&M Stores cut wages bill by using free dole labour!

We are publishing below a recent report from Boycott Workfare.

"Workfare hands companies free labour which means fewer jobs and paid hours for everyone. But direct action and online pressure mean tens of brands now steer clear of it. Let’s step up the pressure on companies who still think they can profit from unpaid work! Take action today to shame these companies and make them realise that exploiting unemployed people might just mean fewer customers this Christmas. There’s new online action every day this week so please keep checking.

                              Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer’s use of workfare hit public awareness when they announced 1400 new placements in their stores and a benchmark of 2% of the workforce to be unpaid. But this isn’t the brand’s first encounter with workfare. Despite their CEOearning over £2 million a year, they are also profiting from unpaid work throughanother workfare scheme in Scotland, which targets single parents. It’s likely their involvement is much more widespread – we also heard from someone sent on a 4 week placement at one of their outlet stores.

Last time we took action, M&S was forced to disable comments on their Facebook Page. Several pickets and walks of shame will pay a visit to their stores this week. Please feel free to contact them with your thoughts as well:

By email: Using their online form
By phone: See this useful list of numbers
Facebook: Marks and Spencer
Twitter: @marksandspencer

B&M Stores

In May, B&M won an award from the workfare industry for its involvement. But the reality of this involvement is harsh. One person has reported: “B&M stores have started using workfare Jan 2013. Receiving free labour and stopping overtime for employees with contracts. The people forced to do this free labour are not happy and neither are the employees!” Boycott Workfare has had reports of workfare at B&M stores in Bangor, Glasgow, Manchester, Southend and Northern Ireland. Show them they can’t keep cutting their wages bill with unpaid work!

By email: enquiries@bmstores.co.uk or customerservices@bmstores.co.uk
By phone: 0151 728 5400 or more numbers here.
Facebook: B&M Stores
Twitter: @bmstores 

Asda

Asda has been at the heart of workfare in the UK, helping the government relaunch its “Work Experience” scheme last year. We have had reports that one of their stores in Manchester uses disabled people on workfare on the night shift. They are frank about their involvement here.

Asda contact form: Click here
Facebook: Asda
Twitter: @asda 

Don’t forget to sign the petition calling for an end to all benefit sanctions without exceptions."

Reasons for an increase in readership

BETWEEN August this year, and November 2013 our page-views increased by just over 40%.  Between October and November 2013 there was just over a 12% increase in hits reaching an all time peak.  This last significant rise in our page-viewings we put down to our advertisement 'A Decade of Northern Voices' in the London anarchist bookfair program booklet on October 19th this year. 

Between August and September this year, we saw a 30% increase in our page-viewings of the Northern Voices' Blog owing, we believe, to the coverage that appeared in Channel Four's Dispatches' program in the middle of September on the now disgraced former Rochdale MP, Cyril Smith, entitled 'The Paedophile MP:  How Cyril Smith Got Away with It' in which investigator Liz MacKean looked into allegations that the Liberal Democrat MP sexually abused children for years before his death in 2010, and claims of lack of action by the authorities. 

A year ago in November 2012, Northern Voices together with the current Rochdale MP, Simon Danzcuk, and the Paul Waugh on his politicshome website N.V. helped to reveal the serious allegations against what Oliver Kamm in The Times described as 'among the most recognisable politicians of the past half century, abused young boys in the 1960s and 1970s.'  At that time last year Mr. Kamm wrote in The Times:
'Danczuk deserves credit for attacking the reputation of his predecessor. The allegations are true. Smith was a paedophile sadist who satisfied his urgings by inflicting humiliating punishment on vulnerable boys who were nominally in his care. Francis Wheen exposed these horrors in Private Eye 30 years ago. Smith never sued.'

Unfortunately, Mr. Kamm's account fails like so many others to make in clear that it was the local journal Rochdale Alternative Paper (RAP) edited by David Bartlett and John Walker that originally exposed Cyril Smith 30 years ago, and that to its credit Private Eye was the only national publication that a month later ran the story in 1979.

Cyril Smith won Rochdale for the Liberals in a by-election in 1972 and held it for 20 years.

More recently Northern Voices has been at the forefront of these revelations and we believe that this has paid off in boosting our page-viewing on this Blog significantly in the last year.  In the current issue of our printed publication Northern Voices No.14, John Walker, the former editor of the Rochdale Alternative Paper (RAP), praises our role in finally outing Cyril Smith in November 2012. It is now believed that the Rochdale MP, Mr. Danzcuk, is at present engaged in producing a publication on the issues surrounding the conduct of Cyril Smith, his rise to power in Rochdale and national politics, and the possibilities of a cover-up by the authorities.

Our long term involvement in this story and other controversal cases like the blacklist in the British building trade, may go some way to explaining why our monthly page-views have almost doubled between September 2012 and November 2013.

 

 

Daily Mail columnist brands blacklisted workers 'terrorists' and 'gangsters'!

We are publishing below a statement and report from the Blacklist Support Group.

'Ultra right wing' Daily Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn today launched a rabid attack on workers blacklisted from building sites today. In a mud-slinging article, blacklisted building workers are smeared as terrorists and "gangsters". The supposed journalism finishes with a foaming at the mouth tirade of abuse arguing that the victims of blacklisting were in fact:

'responsible for widespread intimidation and extortion on sites across Britain. They had to be banned for the sake of all the decent construction workers trying to make an honest living. And most of them should never be allowed back within a mile of a building site.'

Steve Acheson - blacklisted electrician & chair, Blacklist Support Group said:

"Not a single shred of documentary evidence relating to blacklisting either disclosed in court or to the parliamentary Select Committee investigation identifies any links to terrorism. The main reason for being blacklisted was for raising concerns about safety issues on building sites or complaining about unpaid wages - all perfectly legal and normal trade union activity. 

Every single person on that blacklist has had their human rights violated, many of us suffered years of unemployment and family tensions because of the conspiracy. It is multinational companies with the collusion of the police in this blacklisting conspiracy who have denied decent construction workers an honest living.

It is not a crime to be a member of a trade union but it is a crime to systematically deny people work because of it. The nasty underbelly of the blacklisting firms are now finally being exposed in the High Court and will hopefully face a Public Inquiry.

This is the second time that I have been accused of being a terrorist because of my fight against the blacklist. The last time, a High Court judge threw out the company's claims saying they were "fanciful bordering on paranoia". 

Dave Smith - blacklisted engineer & secretary, Blacklist Support Group said

'I was blacklisted because I raised concerns about asbestos and overflowing toilets. 

If I ask for a safe building site is that extortion? 

If I take on the role of a union safety rep does that make me a gangster? 

There certainly are gangsters in the building industry who intimidate honest workers. They're the fat cats wearing expensive suits who tried to destroy our working lives.  

Where does Littlejohn get his supposed information form? I smell the work of a PR firm working for the blacklisting companies or Special Branch - possibly both.

If Richard Littlejohn thinks he is the voice of the people, he is very much mistaken. He is a paid apologist for the worst excesses of big business. 

Could the wretch be anymore obnoxious?'

Blacklist Support Group

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

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

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

Tories roll out more unpaid work for Britain's youngsters!

We are publishing below a report we have received from 'Boycott workfare'.

"Day One of the week of action against workfare and sanctions was great - with a LOUD noise demo at the workfare industry's annual conference, hijacking its hashtag and actions in Cardiff and Germany! On Day Two, target the companies profiting from making young people work without pay on Traineeships.

Traineeships are about providing cheap labour, driving down wages, massaging unemployment figures and conditioning our young people for a life of poverty and jumping through endless hoops in search of a job.

They're a fairly new scheme that targets 16-24 year olds with more unpaid work. Traineeships involve a work placement of up to six months for which the employer is not even required to pay travel expenses. The promise at the end of six months' unpaid work? You may then be eligible to work for £2.67 an hour as an apprentice.

Used together, traineeships and apprenticeships have the potential to massively undercut the minimum wage on the high street and elsewhere.  The government is of course rolling out compulsory education for 17-18 year-olds and unpaid work looks set to make up an increasingly large component of that education. Benefits cuts for 18-25 year-olds are also threatened.

There are many companies happy to take advantage of young people and profit from their lack of opportunity and  today let's take action against them. Contact them by phone, email or on social media.

Kwikfit

Kwikfit's hit the headlines for expecting 39 hours of unpaid work a week from its traineeships and advertising them across the UK. It's already faced huge public criticism on social media. Let's make sure it knows the pressure hasn't gone away and it needs to pay the people who work for it.

You could comment by phone or email, on its Facebook page or Youtube channel.

Tweet to @Kwik_Fit

Subway

This multi-national brand with $18.1 billion in sales in a year, is recruiting multiple traineeships in Blackpool to "prepare food and serve customers" for 21 hours' work a week each. currently advertising for at least three placements, this shop is saving itself £3180 on the wages bill in the next two months. Let's hope the young people weren't planning on buying any Christmas presents.

Share your thoughts on Subway's Facebook page or take a look at their contact details.

Tweet to @SUBWAYUKIreland

Toywatch

Here is a luxury watch shop offering unpaid work for six months in its store in Westfield to young people when clearly it should and could offer them paid work and on the job training. You can contact Toywatch and let them know what you think on shop@toy-watch.com, comment on their Facebook page, give them a call on 020 3301 8744 or pay them a visit.

Tweet to @ToyWatchWorld

Novotel

Novotel's 4* hotel in Southampton is also profiting from 42 hours of unpaid work in its kitchens each week. Its contact details can be found here.

Got a few more minutes?

Have a dig here and pick the companies you'd like to contact about their exploitation of young people to replace paid work.

Want more info on traineeships? Hear it from the horse's mouth here and here.

Coming up...

There's online action every day this week - please keep an eye on the website and get involved!

There's demos across the UK this week. Check out the growing list here.

On Feb 15th - Take part in a day of sharing skills and information to challenge workfare and sanctions.

Thanks for helping make the week of action huge!

P.S. Sorry the links in Sunday's email didn't work. Today's definitely should!

Acheson & others v Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd

BLACKLISTING High Court claim (Acheson & others v Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd) The first ever hearing in the blacklisting High Court claim took place last Friday (29th November). The original High Court claim for nearly 100 claimants supported by the Blacklist Support Group has been in preparation since 2009 and is being led by Guney Clark & Ryan solicitors. In the summer GMB announced that they would also be taking a High Court claim for their members and last week to coincide with the TUC Day of Action on blacklisting, UNITE and UCATT also announced they would be joining the High Court claims.

In Court on Friday, Hugh Tomlinson QC of Matrix Chambers (famous for his privacy work on behalf of celebrities and for co-founding the Hacked Off phone hacking campaign) was acting on behalf of the original claim brought by Guney Clark & Ryan (GCR), was joined at a hearing in the Royal Courts of Justice by John Hendy QC and barristers acting for three other newer union claims. Tomlinson called the Consulting Association 'a blacklist for trade union and political activities' and accused the firms of being involved in ' a conspiracy to injure.'  He also told the court that due to the fact that the Information Commissioner left over 90% of the documentation in the offices of the Consulting Association during the raid in 2009, 'much of the material that wasn't seized has now disappeared.'

Tomlinson made an application for a group litigation order (GLO) which would permit the four cases to be managed collectively. The reason for a GLO is that all of the claims are dealing with the same factual and legal issues and rather than have hundreds of separate cases heard in court talking about the same events, there will only be one case but with each legal team presenting their own arguments. This is a perfectly usual legal process and stops witnesses having to give evidence multiple times in multiple cases. The court’s senior master Steven Whitaker stated that the two newest cases from Ucatt and Unite were not sufficiently advanced and ruled that the he would make the GLO next April.

Several major contractors are defendants in the cases: Sir Robert McAlpine, Balfour Beatty, BAM, Carillion, Costain, Laing, Kier Ltd, Skanska, Vinci, Taylor Woodrow and AMEC but only Sir Robert McAlpine and Skanska were even represented at the hearing.

Prior to the hearing, the companies had attempted to have the claims 'stayed' (put on hold) because of their so-called compensation scheme proposals. But GCR lawyers vigorously opposed any suggestion that the legal cases should be paused arguing that our legal cases are ready to go. In the end, the employers firms did not even raise the suggestion in court.

Speaking outside the court, Liam Dunne for GCR said: 
'Despite misleading press reports, not a single person has been offered a penny from the blacklist compensation scheme. We have no intention of stopping our legal claim against the Sir Robert McAlpine and the other firms.  The slight delay until April allows the unions to catch up but as far as Guney Clark & Ryan and our claimants are concerned it is full steam ahead.'

Pix: http://www.demotix.com/news/3369105/blacklist-protest-outside-royal-courts-justice#media-3369129
http://www.flickr.com/photos/60718029@N06/sets/72157638203240035/

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

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

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

The current printed issue of NORTHERN VOICES No.14, is now available for sale at all our usual outlets in the North of England and beyond - see below. This issue N.V.14 has a Tameside Eye story about how Tameside has a history of involvement in blacklisting, it also contains an interview by Barry Woodling with George Tapp - the Salford electrician injured in May on an anti-blacklist picket. The Voices has been in the forthfront of the campaign against the blacklist since 2003 and the DAF dispute at Manchester Piccadilly, its editor, an electrician, was on the blacklist of the Economic League in the 1960s, and there was an attempt to blacklist him while he was working in Gibraltar in both 1964 and 1967, but at the time this intervention by the Foreign Office was resisted by the Gibraltarian authorities, and the Gibraltar Transport & General Workers Union.
Postal subscription: £5 for the next two issues (post included). Cheques made payable to 'Northern Voices' should be sent c/o 52, Todmorden Road, Burnley, Lancashire BB10 4AH.
Tel.: 0161 793 5122.
email: northernvoices@hotmail.com

Blacklist High Court Case Delayed

AN application to roll all four High Court blacklisting cases into one ‘super case’ was today postponed by a judge until Spring. Hugh Tomlinson QC of Matrix Chambers - acting on behalf of the original claim brought on behalf of 79 workers by solicitor Guney Clark & Ryan - was joined at a hearing in the Royal Courts of Justice by barristers acting for three other newer claims of a similar nature brought by three separate trade unions - the GMB union, Ucatt and Unite - on behalf of their members who allege they were blacklisted. All four are compensation claims made against major contractors which employed the services of blacklisting firm the Consulting Association until it was raided and closed down in 2009. Tomlinson - famous for his privacy work on behalf of celebrities and for co-founding the Hacked Off phone hacking campaign – made an application for a group litigation order (GLO) which would permit the four cases to be managed collectively. But the court’s senior master Steven Whitaker suggested that the two newest cases - which were launched by Ucatt and Unite earlier this month – are not sufficiently advanced and ruled that the he would make the GLO next April. Several major contractors are defendents in the cases but only one - Skanska - was represented at today’s hearing. http://www.building.co.uk/news/blacklisting-high-court-cases-put-back-to-spring/5064382.article Blacklisting High Court cases put back to Springwww.building.co.uk Court’s senior master postpones application to roll all four High Court compensation claims into one.

Knowl View Whistleblower Chased by Law Firm

MARTIN Digan the whistleblower who outed the scandal of sexual abuse against lads at Knowl View in the 1980s and 1990s has been hunted down by a legal firm DWF LLP, who claim that they are acting on behalf of the insurers of Rochdale Council.  This legal firm have asked that a dossier of records relating to Knowl View is returned to the local authority.

Mr Diggan has told the Rochdale Observer that he was shocked to get a letter from the legal firm DWF LLP and said:
'In the first instance I've never admitted to having any documents' and that 'under no circumstances would I give someone that I don't know information about sexual abuse of children.  Rochdale council already have the information that they are asking for - I don't know what game they're playing.'

Since recent revelations of abuse in Rochdale was brought out last year the Manchester law firm Pannone has been contacting some of the alleged victims, and they are looking into how and why the abuse was allowed to happen.  The law firm Pannone, with an office on Deansgate in Manchester, has a team of expert abuse solicitors which specialise in all types of sexual, physical and child abuse claims. 

The documents in the dossier are said to show how young lads were put at risk of Aids through prostitution and relationships with well-known sex offenders, after being taken into Manchester to meet men who would pay to have sex with them.

Why this pursuit of Mr. Digan is happening now is not clear.  In Rochdale, a council spokesperson told tomorrow's Rochdale Observer:
'The council is in discussions with the police on this matter and is therefore unable to comment further.'

Blacklist Protest Today at High Court

Blacklisting protest at the High Court

9am - 10am Friday 29th November 2013

Royal Courts of Justice

The Strand

London

Organised by: Blacklist Support Group 

Workers blacklisted in the construction industry for raising concerns about safety issues or being members of a trade union will be protesting outside the High Court on Friday morning. The protest is to coincide with the first hearing in the High Court claim being brought by Guney, Clark & Ryan solicitors on behalf of nearly 100 claimants (Steve Acheson & others v Sir Robert McAlpine & others). Counsel in the claim is Sir Hugh Tomlinson QC and is supported by the Blacklist Support Group.

The full list of defenent companies are: Sir Robert McAlpine, Balfour Beatty, BAM, Carillion, Costain, Laing, Kier Ltd, Skanska, Vinci, Taylor Woodrow and AMEC. Evidence from the Scottish Affairs Select Committee investigation into blacklisting has shown that the individuals who ran the blacklist were directors of these companies including Cullum McAlpine, founding chairamn of the Consulting Association blacklist. Decisions about the illegal blacklist were discussed and agreed at Board level. 

Steve Acheson, lead claimant and chair of the Blacklist Support Group said:

'Its amazing how these millionaires can sit round tables and make judgements that affect lives on a permanent basis and that's acceptable despite the laws it breaks. Yet blow up a giant inflatable rat and all hell is let loose in the press.  These directors have worked outside the law and breached our human rights. They know what they have done wrong and what they were inflicting on thousands of families and I would like to see some of these face prison sentences.'

Photo of Steve Acheson at High Court attached (credit: Mick Holder NUJ)

GUNEY, CLARK & RYAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY BLACKLIST PRESS RELEASE

On the 29^th November 2013, the first ever High Court hearing in relation to “blacklisting” within the construction industry will take place. This hearing relates to the High Court claim brought by Guney, Clark & Ryan on behalf of 79 individuals. Those individuals and Guney, Clark & Ryan have worked tirelessly over the past 4 years in pursuit of justice for those who have suffered due to having been placed on a blacklist. Guney, Clark & Ryan issued the claim on 20^th March 2012 against Sir Robert McAlpine. In seeking to defend that claim, they have added as co-defendants 10 of the other major construction companies in the UK namely, Balfour Beatty, BAM , Carillion, Costain, Laing, Kier Ltd, Skanska, Vinci, Taylor Woodrow and AMEC

Until very recently, there had been little or no support from the trades unions, of which many of those individuals who are bringing the claim belong. Indeed it is only because of the hard work and dedication of these Claimants and Guney, Clark & Ryan in progressing their High Court claim against the face of so much opposition, that the Unions had to sit up, take notice and take action. As a result, with much media fanfare, the GMB in June 2013, UNITE in November 2013 and UCATT in November 2013 have all now also issued High Court claims of their own, and are running media campaigns highlighting their “fight” for justice for blacklisted workers despite years of previous inaction.

A recent development has been an announcement by 8 of the construction companies involved in the High Court action initiated by Guney, Clark & Ryan to set up a compensation scheme, the Construction Workers Compensation Scheme (TCWCS). This is only in its infancy and a very basic draft framework of the proposals was sent out to interested parties including the trades unions. This has led to some inaccurate press reports of individuals being offered compensation ranging from £1000 up to £100,000. Not one of the 79 individuals bringing the High Court claim, nor any of the other 100-plus potential claimants that Guney, Clark & Ryan are advising have been made any offer, nor is it expected that any such offers will be made in the near future.

Lastly, after four and a half years of pressure, the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has finally confirmed that they will now write directly to 1200 individuals named on the blacklist. However, somewhat incomprehensibly, the ICO (an ostensibly neutral government body) when writing to these individuals will direct them to the Construction Workers Compensation Scheme (TWCS), referred to above, which is run by the very people who blacklisted them in the first place. The fact that the ICO is willing to direct victims to these firms clearly calls into question their supposed impartiality. It is worth remembering that, to date, the ICO has not taken any criminal legal action against a single blacklisting firm despite mountains of documentary evidence that they have repeatedly and consistently broken the law.

 

Blacklist Support Group

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

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

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

Bristol Events

The 'Game of Drones' + 'Unmanned'

Date: Saturday 30th November, 2013
Time: 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Venue: Hydra Bookshop, 34 Old Market St, Bristol, BS2 0EZ
Price: Donation

Game of Drones: The President and the White House Fly (Handsome Dog Productions, 2013). Investigative poem on topical issue of ‘Unmanned Aerial Vehicles’. Written by Heathcote Williams; Narration and Montage by Alan Cox; produced by Margaret Cox. Screening will be introduced by anti-Drone campaigner John from Bath Activist Network.
Unmanned: America’s Drone Wars. Director Robert Greenwald’s brand new film documentary premiered 30th October 2013. Mary Dobbing, researcher with Drone Wars UK, will introduce the film and talk about the UK’s use of drones in Afghanistan.
More at: http://www.brh.org.uk/site/events/game-drones/

Why was Charles I executed?
Justice, liberties and popular petitioning in 1648-49

Date: Monday 2nd December, 2013
Time: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Venue: Hydra Bookshop, 34 Old Market St, Bristol, BS2 0EZ
With: Norah Carlin
Price: Donation

The regicide of 1649 has often been presented by books, articles and TV dons as the result of religious beliefs related to the King's role as a 'Man of Blood', whose own blood must be shed to deliver England from the taint of killing and the fear of God's vengeance. However the evidence suggests a far more sophisticated political response rooted in the concepts of 'Justice and Liberties' displayed in both public and military petitions. 'Justice' signified what we would now call war crimes trials (and not just of the king), while the word 'liberties' was used at the time to describe far-reaching and permanent constitutional reforms. Norah Carlin will present her new research into this fascinating period, when not only the monarchy but the Parliament which had sat for the past eight years were confronted for their crimes.
More at: http://www.brh.org.uk/site/events/why-was-charles-i-executed/
Bristol Local History Book Fair

Date:Saturday 7th December, 2013
Time: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Venue: Bristol Record Office, ‘B’ Bond, Smeaton Road, Bristol BS1 6XN
Price: Free
Note: This event is not organised by BRHG.

A new initiative from Bristol Record Office bringing together local history publishers and speakers. BRHG will be running a bookstall along with many others.

Talks
1.30pm William Fairney: Humphrey Davy
2.30pm Mark Steeds: Wulfstan and Clarkson
3.30pm Lucienne Boyce: The Bristol SuffragettesMore at:http://www.brh.org.uk/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Book-fair-2013_FLAT.pdf
Remembering the Real WWI: Public meeting (#2)
Date: Tuesday 10th December, 2013
Time: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Venue: Hydra Bookshop, 34 Old Market St, Bristol, BS2 0EZ
Price: Free
This is the second meeting in Bristol to discuss opposition to David Cameron's 'truly national commemoration' of WW1 stressing our 'national spirit'.
Nationally there are plans to ensure that attention is given to the real causes and effects of the war, rather than an opportunity for our government to re-habilitate this war in particular or war in general. Bristol has long radical traditions and we know there are groups and individuals across the city who will want to ensure that there are events locally remembering the reality of World War 1. We want to facilitate this. We want to encourage the widest possible range and number of events – meetings, music, theatre, film, exhibitions etc. What might be organised (and how) will largely be determined by the individuals and groups who get involved. The involvement of a wide spectrum of people and groups will ensure a greater cross-fertilisation of ideas; events can be publicised more widely; and they can reach a wider audience. So if you are interested in participating please come along to this meeting.

This meeting is jointly organised by Bristol Stop the War Coalition and Bristol Radical History Group.

_______________________________________________ Brhmob mailing list Brhmob@brh.org.uk  http://www.brh.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/brhmob

Blacklist Update

1.  High Court Claim

The first hearing in the first ever High Court claim for blacklisting as an "unlawful conspiracy" takes place on Friday. The claim is being brought by Guney, Clark & Ryan solicitors (GCR) who have been preparing this case since 2009 on behalf of nearly 100 blacklisted workers and is the legal challenge fully supported by the Blacklist Support Group.

Come along and support the campaign - wear your "BLACKLISTED" T-shirts for the press photos. 

High Court Blacklisting Protest (press photo-opportunity)

9am Friday 29th November 2013

High Court

The Strand

London

WC2A 2LL 

If you are a blacklisted worker and wish to get more info about the GCR High Court claim contact: Liam Dunne ldunne@guneyclarkryan.com

http://www.guneyclarkryan.com/construction-industry-blacklist-news/ 

2. Day of Action on Blacklisting - more pix & vids

I think everyone is over the moon about what happened last week. Often, these kind of events are a bit of a damp squib but November 20th saw genuine rank and file civil disobedience protests across the country, lobbies of parliaments in Westminster, Edinburgh and Cardiff.  (An anti-blacklist protest also took place in central Manchester outside Manchester Town Hall called by the Greater Manchester Contracting Branch of Unite, and supported by many local blacklisted electricians, George Tapp, Tameside TUC and other members of Unite and Ucatt).  There were also major announcements about blacklisting from Ed Milliband, Scottish government, the ICO, UCATT and UNITE.

You can support the blacklisting campaign by distributing these videos to your mailing lists and sharing on social media. This really makes a difference.

Videos: 

http://reelnews.co.uk/national-blacklisting-day-of-action-sends-shockwaves-through-the-building-industry/ - great stuff from Reel News: London civil disobedience & House of Commons together. Reel News are massive supporters of BSG and we urge every union branch to take out an annual subscription to keep them going.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeuPmmqja-A&list=UUdtWZi4_T0dr6Tc-KhgV-qQ - Scottish lobby of parliament

Pix: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/60718029@N06/sets/72157637906569185/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hethb/sets/72157637939051514/

http://guy-smallman-photos.photoshelter.com/gallery/Blacklist-City-protest-20-11-13/G00002TpOOoLSyYk

https://www.facebook.com/paul.mattsson.9/media_set?set=a.10151719184295683.1073741845.725280682&type=1 

3. Public Inquiry

Ed Milliband and Chuka Umunna both pledged an incoming Labour government to hold an inquiry into the blacklisting scandal (see Reel News video above).

Blacklist Support Group, Francess O'Grady and all 3 main unions involved say this is not enough - we demand a fully independent public inquiry to expose the full conspiracy (not some half-hearted thing done by BIS).

http://www.hazards.org/blacklistblog/ 

4. ICO letter to workers on the blacklist

Five years after seizing the blacklist, the ICO are now finally sending letters to 1200 individuals where they hold addresses and national insurance numbers, something activists and unions have argued for all along. The ICO letter has however been condemned by victims and unions alike as it directs these workers, who in many cases have no idea that there name appears on the Consulting Association database, to the blacklist compensation scheme set up by the very companies who blacklisted them in the first place. The BSG complaint describes this as  'like sending the victims of crime to the criminals to receive justice.' 

The Information Commissioners Office has now suspended sending letters to individuals whose names appear on the Consulting Association database following a complaint by the Blacklist Support Group (BSG). The BSG complaint condemns the actions of the ICO and describes how "From being the champions of blacklisted workers, the ICO is now a barrier in our path to achieve justice". The ICO has now agreed to place details of the Blacklist Support Group on the ICO website and in any future correspondence with those whose names appear on the blacklist. 

Liam Dunne (GCR) said

'We are dismayed that the Information Commissioners Office have sent “fact sheets” directing victims to the Construction Workers Compensation Scheme (TWCS), which is run by the very people who blacklisted them in the first place and at this point has not been approved of by any of the stakeholders involved.' 

5. Blacklisting campaigners win awards: Congratulations to:

Will Hurst from Building magazine - winner of 2 awards in the IBP Press awards for his investigative journalism on the issue of Blacklisting - Will broke a number of the stories that later made the mainstream media especially relating to Crossrail. 

Welsh Assembly - for their strong stand on blacklisting - banning blacklisting firms from public contracts. 

Blacklist Support Group - (YES, THAT'S US) - we won the Robert Tressell Award for services to working people at the Construction Safety Campaign AGM. "The families and partners of blacklisted workers and activists" were also awarded a special Robert Tressell Award for their support. They truly are the wind beneath our wings.
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The current printed issue of NORTHERN VOICES No.14, is now available for sale at all our usual outlets in the North of England and beyond - see below. This issue N.V.14 has a Tameside Eye story about how Tameside has a history of involvement in blacklisting, it also contains an interview by Barry Woodling with George Tapp - the Salford electrician injured in May on an anti-blacklist picket. The Voices has been in the forthfront of the campaign against the blacklist since 2003 and the DAF dispute at Manchester Piccadilly, its editor, an electrician, was on the blacklist of the Economic League in the 1960s, and there was an attempt to blacklist him while he was working in Gibraltar in both 1964 and 1967, but at the time this intervention by the Foreign Office was resisted by the Gibraltarian authorities, and the Gibraltar Transport & General Workers Union.
Postal subscription: £5 for the next two issues (post included). Cheques made payable to 'Northern Voices' should be sent c/o 52, Todmorden Road, Burnley, Lancashire BB10 4AH.
Tel.: 0161 793 5122.
email: northernvoices@hotmail.com

'Bad Boy' Barry Banned by Bookfair

'Anti-Semite' but oh too Jewish!

USING a splendid piece of politically twisted logic the organisers of the Manchester & Salford Anarchist Bookfair have now seemingly banned the anarchist Barry Woodling because of certain utterances he is alleged to have made about the cost of a funeral that took place years ago.  Now the story is not that Barry was 'anti-Semite' (an absurd suggestion given his noble ancestors of the Jewish faith), as alleged by the 'organiser' who uses the pseudonym 'Veg' when he had Barry ejected from last year's bookfair, but rather that Barry may or may not have tastelessly ventured an opinion on the high cost of a social function such as a funeral.   

Clearly it is theoretically possible to accuse someone who is Jewish, like Prof. Noam Chomsky, of being 'anti-Semite' because of their negative attitude to the State of Israel, and Chomsky has had much to say about this.    But to suggest that a Jew or anyone else can't wonder about the cost of something without fear of retribution takes us into the realms of the Spanish Inquisition and George Orwell's '1984' and the 'thought police'. 

Last Saturday, I went to the Manchester Anarchist Bookfair merely to drop off a few copies of Northern Voices with a book dealer before going to attend the Rank & File conference of construction workers at the Mechanics Institute at noon.  What did I find having greeted two of the organisers and entered the arena of the bookfair itself was that I was grabbed by the arm from behind and I turned to find that the pale-face one calling himself 'Veg' (aka Vegetable) had hold of me in what I suppose was a citizen's arrest.  I indicated my displeasure and he detached himself from me.  The person who I recognised as the organiser-in-chief (Mr. Under-the-Pavement) then strode up and confirmed that 'Veg' was indeed an 'organiser', and as 'Mr. Under-the-Pavement' beckoned us we all adjourned to the entrance area; where I was told that as I was a friend of Barry Woodling and that Barry had caused some people some offence a year ago that I too 'was not welcome' at the Bookfair for fear that my presence, owing to my friendship with Barry, may upset others at the Bookfair. 

What is this world that English anarchists are living in: Alice-in-Wonderland or '1984'?  The poet Shelley wrote about frail and fragile plants, but there can be few so touchy or fragile as those who venture to go to the Manchester & Salford Bookfair.  What is the rational for this perculiar behaviour for it suggests a small-minded mentality of small groups, as the only way small groups can feel important and bigger is by excluding others from their number.  So it was that only last month questions were raised on the Bookfair website about whether the International Brigade Memorial Trust (IBMT) should be welcome at the Bookfair or banned, in the event the IBMT was accepted, but others have been excluded over the years not just the Northern Anarchist Network (NAN) and Mr. Barry Woodling. 

Union to sue firms over blacklisting

THE union UCATT has drawn up list of companies it says are guilty of breach of confidence and misuse of private information

 

Ucatt says companies wilfully destroyed the lives of ordinary construction workers. Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian.

 

Some of Britain's biggest construction firms are to face fresh legal action over the way in which they allegedly blacklisted union activists for years.

 

Construction union Ucatt announced it was to sue the firms for breach of confidence and misuse of private information found in their files, the only option it says is available.

 

The deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, said this week he was deeply disturbed by reports of blacklisting and said the practice could be examined in the government's six-month review of industrial relations announced at the weekend.

 

The union launched the court cases to coincide with the TUC's anti-blacklisting day of action which takes place on Wednesday. It has employed the services of Mark Warby QC, a leading expert on privacy law, to take the cases on behalf of its members. A hearing is expected this week.

Ucatt is initially taking action against Balfour Beatty, Bam, CB&I, Costain, Carillion, Laing O'Rourke, Lend Lease, Sir Robert McAlpine and Vinci. It expects the list of companies to grow as more workers come forward to take action.

 

Ucatt is also to commence legal action against one of the former chairs of the Consulting Association, which held information, and a senior human resources manager for a blacklisting company. His name is being withheld at this stage for legal reasons.

 

Some construction firms, including some being joined to this legal action, have announced they have opened a compensation scheme to provide redress for construction workers. However, the union has raised a series of objections to the scheme, saying that it litigants are forced to accept gagging clauses, a refusal by the construction firms to accept liability and the fact that some offers will start as low as £1,000.

 

Steve Murphy, general secretary of Ucatt, said:

'Blacklisting companies wilfully destroyed the lives of ordinary construction workers and acted as though they were above the law. Our legal action will ensure that the victims receive the justice they deserve.'

 

The Labour government significantly tightened the law on blacklisting in 2010 after files were seized showing the true scale of the blacklisting undertaken by construction firms. They revealed a database of 3,000 names used to vet construction workers for more than 15 years.

 

Meanwhile, to mark the TUC's day of action against blacklisting, Ucatt is holding demonstrations outside construction sites and offices operated by Sir Robert McAlpine. McAlpine was the company most closely involved with the Consulting Association. It provided the first and last chairman; it paid the association's winding up costs in its final year of operation and it was the second highest user of its blacklisting service, spending £26,842.20.

 

Despite this leading role, Sir Robert McAlpine was not prosecuted by the Information Commissioner's Office and was not served with an enforcement notice.

 

Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd said in a statement it had never operated a blacklist:

'We are, and have always been, wholly committed to maintaining good relationships with our workforce and to responsible trade unionism. We recognise and respect the rights of workers to observe a day of action.  We have apologised for our involvement with The Consulting Association and the impact that its records may have had on any individual worker. We have joined with seven other construction companies to form the Construction Workers Compensation Scheme which is intended to make it as simple as possible for any worker with a legitimate claim to access compensation.'

Scottish Ban on Blacklists!

BLACKLIST Support Group (BSG) applaud the Scottish government for their announcement to ban blacklisting firms from public contracts. The announcement made by First Minister Alex Salmond in the Scottish parliament on the TUC Day of Action says that blacklisting firms will be denied contracts if they refuse to compensate victims.

Clauses in proposed new contracts being introduced under the Procurement Bill also allow for contracts to be terminated early if they firms are found to have broken the law relating to blacklisting midway through any contracts. Alex Salmond quote: 'The Scottish government is opposed to blacklisting in any form, given the serious impact it can have on the career, livelihoods and lives of those affected. Companies awarded public contracts must maintain high standards of business and professional conduct. Everyone has a right to work and to raise concerns, including through a union. They should not expect to be inhibited in any way by choosing to exercise these rights. We are making it absolutely clear to any company wishing to tender to supply, build or service parts of our national infrastructure, or to deliver our public goods and services, that blacklisting will not be tolerated and that they face being excluded from bidding for public contracts if found to be taking part in this unacceptable practice. The new guidance - see attachment - will apply to Scotland’s standard Pre-Qualification Questionaire (sPQQ) and will also form part of a new contract clause in standard terms and conditions, allowing for the termination of a contract if a supplier is found to have breached relevant legislation during the course of that contract.'

The guidance includes examples of remedial steps which firms involved in blacklisting need to have taken including an 'appropriate apology', paying compensation and taking 'concrete, technical, organisational and personnel measures that are appropriate to prevent further criminal offence or misconduct'.

Willie Black (BSG) - Edinburgh based blacklisted construction worker was at the Scottish parliament on Wednesday said: 'The blacklisting of safety reps by building cntractors shows that these ratbags put profits ahead of safety of workers on construction sites. People have died because of their actions. Banning blacklisting firms from all public contracts will cost them billions. Perhaps now they will start to understand the impact their vile conspiracy has had on honest trade unionists standing up for their fellow workers. But if the blacklisting companies think a half hearted apology is going to stop our campaign they are very much mistaken. We will be back again and again until we get justice.'

The Scottish announcement mirrors action already taken by Wales earlier in the year, which resulted in the Welsh Government being nominated for an award at the Liberty Human Rights Awards on Monday because of the stance they have taken on blacklisting. Blacklist Support Group video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlCa8yQmZ70 blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/

Blacklist Support Group Report

1. TUC Day of Action on Blacklisting Round of Applause to everyone who participated in the Blacklisting Day of Action on November 20th. There were protests, occupations, road blockades and lobbies of parliament across the UK - too many to mention them all. It worked so much better by having dozens of genuine grass roots events rather than one single official protest in London. Loads of blacklisted workers got on the radio, TV plus national & local newspapers. So whether your event was two people giving out flyers or hundreds blockading the main road outside the Houses of Parliamen - Thank You. Thank you to John McDonnell MP, Jim Sheridan MP, Ian Davidson MP and Neil Findlay MSP for chairing meetings for blacklisted workers in the Westminster and Scottish parliaments. Both Ed Milliband and Chuka Umunna MP - pledged an inquiry from the next Labour government - Blacklisted workers want a fully independent public inquiry. If anyone has any reports, photos, TV clips or videos of protests - please post to the Blacklist Support Group facebook page http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/ or else share on social media with the hashtags #blacklisting #N20 #BSG Special mention of the Leeds protest where two blacklisted workers, Pete Shaw and Sandy MacPherson were both assaulted by an aggressive security guard in an unprovoked attack at Sir Robert McAlpine offices. Despite being battered and hospitalised - both Pete and Sandy are now both OK. http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-e093-The-real-thugs-are-the-elite#.Uo4IosRSiSo http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2013/11/20/scuffles-break-out-at-blacklist-protest/ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tucs-day-action-blacklisting-victims-2810924 http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-7661-Unions-raise-heat-on-blacklisters#.Uo4IicRSiSo http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/blacklisting-construction-industry-challenged-nationwide-2809390 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-25013402 http://www.tuc.org.uk/union-issues/tuc-calls-proper-national-inquiry-blacklisting-%E2%80%93-not-political-posturing-over-union http://socialistworker.co.uk/art/36914/Day+of+action+around+Britain+against+blacklisting http://thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/reports-tucs-day-of-action-against-blacklisting/ Pix of day of Action: http://guy-smallman-photos.photoshelter.com/gallery/Blacklist-City-protest-20-11-13/G00002TpOOoLSyYk http://www.ucatt.org.uk/Pictures-blacklisting-day-action-november-20-2013 Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEPEySKI7rE&feature=youtu.be 2. High Court Claims: On the Day of Action UNITE and UCATT both announced their intention of taking High Court claims on behalf of their members. This brings the number of High Court claims to four in total. The GMB have already submitted their claim earlier in the summer and the lead claim by Guney Clark & Ryan (GCR) solicitors, supported by the Blacklist Support Group has been running for over 4 years now. The first ever hearing in a High Court blacklisting claim will be the GCR case on Friday 29th November. This will be a hearing to determine how the cases will be run, what are the main legal points to be argued etc.. It is likely that there will be a court order that says that all 4 High Court cases will be heard at the same time. They would remain 4 separate claims, with 4 separate legal teams representing different clients but there would only be one physical court case. The Blacklist Support Group will be holding a protest outside the High Court in the Strand on Friday 29th November. Everyone welcome. If you have a BLACKLISTED T-shirts, please bring it along to wear for the photo-opportunity. 3. Scottish Government announcement: On the Day of Action the Scottish government published plans to refuse public contracts to blacklisting firms. This step has only came about because of the fantastic campaigning by the Scottish blacklisted workers. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-25016063 http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/wider-political-news/firms-will-have-to-declare-blacklisting.22758412 4. Blacklist Compensation Scheme: The latest update on the blacklist compensation scheme is that all 3 unions and the BSG have sent a joint letter making it clear that the compensation scheme is not acceptable to blacklisted workers. Whilst everyone thinks an industry funded compensation scheme is a good idea, the present proposals are simply a PR stunt intended to deflect attention away from the High Court claims or even an attempt to delay the legal process altogether. We are prepared to negotiate with the scheme but do not intend to pause any of our legal claims for something that in its current state is worthless. The various legal teams including Guney, Clark & Ryan solicitors are also in discussions with the compensation scheme. Our red lines are: Everyone on the Consulting Association blacklist to be compensated Jobs for blacklisted workers on major projects - including costs for retraining if needed Compensation to fully represent the loss of earnings and severity of the human rights violations No Gagging Clause - we still want a full public inquiry Even if some blacklisted workers are only interested in financial compensation - BSG advice is to have nothing to do with the employers blacklist compensation scheme - because the final offers they make will be massively better than the insulting £1000 they expect to give to most people at the moment. http://union-news.co.uk/2013/11/blacklist-compensation-scheme-wont-buy-silence-want-justice-say-campaigners/ 5. Information Commissioner's Office announcement: After 4 and a half years, the ICO has finally decided to do what they should have done in the very first week of seizing the files and send a letter to everyone with a blacklist file where they have a name, address or national Insurance number. This means another 1200 letters should be sent out in the next few weeks and many more workers will receive their files. The ICO letter directs people to the employers blacklisting compensation scheme: the very people who blacklisted them in the first place. This beggars belief. The ICO has not taken legal action against a single blacklisting firm despite mountains of documentary evidence that they have broken the law. And now they are directing the victims of crime to the perpetrators of the crime. The fact that the ICO is willing to direct victims to the firms but not to the Blacklist Support Group which has led the campaign for justice and acts as a support network for blacklisted workers speaks volumes. It is an outrage and calls into question the supposed impartiality of the ICO. http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/523866/20131120/blacklisting-firms-construction-workers-jobs-ucatt-unions.htm 6. The government has announced an inquiry into the leverage tactics used by UNITE the Union in various industrial disputes including Crossrail, BESNA and Grangemouth. Blacklist Support Group are proud supporters of using leverage as part of a strategy combined with rank & file action to put pressure on rogue employers to negotiate. Leverage works - it helped us win the reinstatement of Frank Morris on Crossrail. As part of the so called inquiry into industrial disputes, it was announced that the practice of blacklisting will be looked at. Steve Kelly - co-chair Blacklist Support Group & UNITE branch secretary said: 'The Tory proposals are nothing more than an anti-union witch hunt masquerading as an inquiry. To equate the blacklist scandal with Unites leverage campaign exposes the government's entire attitude towards organised labour. Blacklisting is a human right conspiracy involving multinational firms and the state. Leverage is perfectly legal protest with a giant inflatable rat. Blacklisted workers refuse to participate with this reactionary election stunt and no principled trade unionist should collaborate in our name.' http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/18/blacklisting-union-activists-investigated-government http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24976760 7. George Tapp - working class hero: George Tapp - a leading blacklist campaigners was run down by a motorist, dragged 100 yards down a road and suffered two fractured knees at a protest in Manchester earlier this year. George spent many weeks in hospital undergoing reconstructive surgery but is now walking again and is now back protesting against the blacklist again. An inspiration to us all. Despite Greater Manchester Police initially blaming George himself for the incident, the driver of the vehicle is now facing criminal charges and will appear in court in the next few months. Watch this space. 8. Message below from construction rank & file national committee: National construction Rank and File meeting 12 noon - 3pm Saturday 23rd November Mechanics Institute, 103 Princes Street, Manchester M1 6DD Hopefully there will be a representative from GMB , Ucatt and Unite at the meeting please inform people about this meeting. All construction workers welcome. 9. Sorry if I have missed anything out - there is a lot going on at the moment Blacklist Support Group video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlCa8yQmZ70 blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/

N20 Report from Colin Trousdale

IN co-ordinated action BLACKLISTED workers from U.C.A.T.T. and Unite targeted a Robert McAlpine site in Hulme south M/C (where over 200 site operatives were leafleted )and a Laing O'Rourke / Bailey Building Services (N.G.Baileys )site at M/C town hall extension where amongst the 100 or so operatives leafleted were the project manager for Laings & supervision for Baileys , before meeting up at the town hall proper to leaflet staff & the public over 1,000 leaflets were handed out including to the chair of the council , the chief executive of the council and the deputy police commissioner . After a couple of hours protest by 30 BLACKLISTED construction workers and approx. 20 of their supporters from other unions a delegation was invited in to speak to two councillors who gave us assurances and evidence that a motion had been passed by the full council denouncing BLACKLISTING . And that we now had an open door to express our concerns over the use of known BLACKLISTERS on public projects in Manchester , we were asked to give them a couple of days to find out who we should be speaking to at the council to force L.O.R. to allow union officials on site to address & recruit the workforce . RESULT FOR THE RnF /B.S.G. over to the fulltimers (I will forward you the contact details of the two councillors for ACTION ). Oh and we got on the telly .KEEP THE FAITH

Tragedy at Leeds protest?

THERE was an unconfirmed report today that one of the pickets on the protests against blacklisting at the Laing O'Rourke site in Leeds suffered a heart attack after being set upon by security guards. Reports are vague and at present the position is unclear because small protests taking place across the country as well as the big ones in London and Manchester.

Manchester City Council's policy on blacklisting

AFTER an encounter on the doorstep of the staff entrance to Manchester Town Hall with the leader of Manchester City Council during the protest today against blacklisting, six electricians had a meeting with the Executive Committee of Manchester City Council at Noon. It was agreed that in future there will be more exchanges, but the nature of this will depend on proper protocol and on what decisions are made at the Greater Manchester Contracting Unite Branch when it meets next month. This protest was called purely on the initiative of the Greater Manchester Contracting Branch, mainly at the instigation of the blacklisted electrician Colin Trousdale and with the support of Tameside TUC. It later came to light that the Manchester City Council carried a motion on the 9th, October 2013 and it was decided as follows that: 'Manchester City Council is deeply concerned by revelations that major companies have been involved in "blacklisting" in order to deny employment to workers who have engaged in trade union activity, such as reporting breaches of health and safety regulations. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) found that a blacklist of copnstruction workers was maintained by an organisation called The Consulting Association who traded for profit the personal information of over 3,200 workers. This blacklist was used by over 40 companies and included information about workers' personal relationships, trade union activity and employment history. The use of such blacklists is unacceptable and cannot be condoned, as it has a potential negative impact on the employment rights of Manchester construction workers. This Council has constructive relationships with trade unions and upholds the right to freedom of association, and we expect all suppliers and partner organisations to do the same. Council calls on the Chief Execfutive to examine existing contracts with any of the companies listed by the ICO and ask for reassurances that the company uses no form of blacklisting to inform their employment decisions.'