Blacklist in the construction industry....

[butchersapron]

Hope that some unions can pay for class actions against these scumbag employers...loss of earnings and all that.

Info

 

[articul8]

believe union officials (UCATT?) were also involved in disclosing info on "troublemakers"?

 

[weepiper]

ah here we go

http://www.scotsman.com/news/politi...nies-in-blacklisted-workers-scandal-1-2755246

Labour MSP Neil Findlay called for a Holyrood inquiry into the practice and building projects such as the Forth Replacement Crossing.
Mr Findlay has previously called for firms involved in blacklisting to be banned from receiving contracts involving taxpayers’ cash after it was reported that 5,000 construction workers in Scotland are on employers’ blacklists. Mr Findlay said: “There are shocking revelations in this parliamentary answer. It now appears that not only have the Scottish Government allowed the contract for the Forth crossing steel to go to China, but the contractors who are building the bridge appear to have been operating a blacklist preventing Scottish workers from getting jobs.
“Given that there appears to be have been a blacklist operating on the biggest construction project in Scotland, the Parliament must investigate and the Scottish Government must also intervene.”

 

[butchersapron]

Jerry Hicks is having a fair go at making this a key part of his UNITE election campaign. And also seems to back up the suggestion that union officials were involved, and more, suggesting that union investigations didn't find it were really cover ups.

 

[brogdale]

they better bloody had!

Courtesy of Butcher's link to Jerry Hick's campaign site above:-

Legal action is being taken on behalf of a number of construction workers, who are seeking compensation for having their names on the blacklist. But shamefully this, the only major court case, is a private case brought by the workers themselves and not funded by Unite. It has been left to the good offices of Guney, Clark & Ryan to take legal action on behalf of the construction workers.

 

[butchersapron]

GMB are supposed to be preparing legal action as we speak - should know if it's just words soon enough.

 

[butchersapron]

Blacklist 2: enquiry hears of spy company snooping on industrial activists

Former director of CAPRiM told MPs how the company was set up at the same time as The Consulting Association began detailed monitoring of union activists in the construction industry. Both organisations had "emerged from the ashes" of the right-wing anti-union group, The Economic League.

 

[brogdale]

Blacklist 2: enquiry hears of spy company snooping on industrial activists

Hmmm....

He also described meetings in London, the West Midlands and Glasgow with members of Special Branch.
“We would meet and chat about what was going on but there was no exchange of detailed information about people, about individuals.”

thread crossover with the dead baby name rape squad?

http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/undercover-police-use-dead-childrens-identities.305873/

 

[weepiper]

GMB trying to track down 582 workers in Scotland who were blacklisted but may be unaware so they can get compensation for them

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-21372923

 

[brogdale]

More here on the extent of collusion between OB and the corporate fascists:-

http://www.channel4.com/news/construction-workers-blacklist-under-police-investigation

The Metropolitan Police launches an inquiry into allegations that its own officers colluded in the blacklisting of thousand of construction workers.
The new inquiry follows a review of a complaint made last November that officers has supplied information to those compiling such lists.

Campaigners say that information in the files could only have come from undercover police officers spying on demonstrations.

 

[Blagsta]

environmental protesters on it too, if anyone was involved in 90s road protests and thinks they may be on the list, PM me and I'll give you details on how to find out

 

[butchersapron]

My mate Dave has spent over 15 years trying to push this information out - finally his tenacity has paid off. I am over the fecking moon )) - We all used to joke about it - it made for running black humour - but could never be sure it was real. We had no evidence. Dave pushed it. And pushed it. And pushed it

He lost the employment tribunal (as ba points out) on a typical boss technicality a short while ago - but got the information out there in the process. That was always his aim.
.

He's now won his fight for an appeal - new hearing expected spring/summer. One potentially very interesting part of the decision:

Dave Smith took a case against three Carillion owned companies to Employment Tribunal in London in January 2012. In the judgment in March 2012 (Case no 1310709/2009) the judge said “It seems to us that he has suffered a genuine injustice and we greatly regret that the law provides him with no remedy”. This was because he lost the case on the technical point that he was not directly employed by Carillion who blacklisted him but was “employed” by an employment agency. Mr Smith is now able to appeal this.

 

[dennisr]

He's now won his fight for an appeal - new hearing expected spring/summer. One potentially very interesting part of the decision:

Yep, Dave's a happy man today - Cannot emphesise enough the potential importance of what ba's pointed out above

From Hazards:

http://www.hazards.org/blacklistblog/2013/02/27/blacklisted-worker-wins-human-rights-argument

"It’s time that Carillion and the other multinationals who deliberately set out to ruin our working lives face justice. A judge has finally decided that these human rights violations need to be answered in court. This is a great decision - I am grinning like a raver.”

(and a fine image of brother dave ;-) )

 

[dennisr]

Now Frank Morris gets a result as well. This is today . Superb (sorry for the long c&p - its from a facebook post - haven't seen easier links to make 'online proper' like as yet):

The Central London Employment Tribunal today (Wed 27th Feb) agreed that Crossrail must face legal claims of blacklisting by Frank Morris an electrician from Enfield.

The claim against Crossrail and Bam Ferrovial Kier (BFK), the consortium building the project, is being brought by Frank Morris, who was dismissed from the Paddington section of the site in September 2012 after he was elected as a UNITE union rep and raised concerns about safety on the project. Mr. Morris claims that his dismissal was linked to the illegal construction industry blacklist which identified him as a union activist and the ultimate decisions about his removal from site were taken by the heads of Human Resources at both Crossrail and BFK.

Crossrail and BFK were expected to argue that the case had no prospect of success and ask for the claim to be thrown out but surprisingly did not even mention this in court. Employment Judge Walker decided that both Crossrail and BFK should appear in court over the claim and the case will now progress to the next stage of the Employment Tribunal process. The next court date is set for 8th April for a Case Management Discussion.

Len McCluskey, Unite General Secretary said:
"Unite does not subscribe to the view that blacklisting in the construction industry ended when the existence of the shady blacklister the Consulting Association was finally uncovered back in 2009. There is significant evidence that blacklisting continued, even on Crossrail - Britain's most high profile construction project.
"Frank Morris has our full support. Blacklisting is a national scandal and Unite is determined to support its members. Too many construction workers have had their lives ruined just because they had concerns over health and safety in one of Britain's most dangerous industries or just because they belonged to a trade union.
"There needs to be a full and transparent investigation, backed by statutory powers, into all the allegations associated with the sordid spying enterprise called the Consulting Association."

Mr. Morris' claim was strengthened by evidence that has been uncovered during the ongoing Scottish Affairs Select Committee investigation into blacklisting. In November 2012, Ian Kerr, the chief executive of the disgraced Consulting Association blacklisting organisation admitted that the main contacts from the building companies spent considerable time at numerous CA meetings discussing the Crossrail project.

Since the Ian Kerr evidence, it has come to light that Ron Baron, the Head of Human Resources at Crossrail has a previous Employment Tribunal judgement against him for blacklisting and was the main contact with the Consulting Association at his previous employer, CB&I. Baron has now been sacked by Crossrail in what is being seen as an admission of wrong doing by blacklisting campaigners.

Only last week, the Select Committee released further evidence that identifies Pat Swift, currently B.F.K.'s head of human resources on the Crossrail project as the main contact between BAM Nuttall and the Consulting Association and Danny O'Sullivan of Kier was actually an ex-chairman of the Consulting Association.

Frank Morris said:
"I have always felt sure that my removal from site was due to the blacklist.
It has now come to light that the the two top HR managers on the project at the time of my sacking are proven blacklisters, who spent many hours at Consulting Association meetings deciding a strategy to keep unions off of Crossrail. My sacking was part of that strategy."

The claim is being brought under the new Blacklisting Regulations introduced in April 2010 after the Consulting Association blacklist was uncovered in 2009. Although many historic blacklisting claims have lost at Employment Tribunals because the claimants were not directly employed, the new regulations do not require the claimant to be an employee. There are only a small number of cases that have been taken since the new Blacklisting Regs were introduced and the Crossrail case is being seen as a test case for the robustness of the Regulations

Notes:
The solicitors are OH Parsons (who have previously submitted a claim to the European Court of Human Rights for another blacklisted worker).
The barrister is David Renton of Garden Court Chambers (who represented Dave Smith in the landmark case against Carillion that exposed police involvement in blacklisting)

 

[butchersapron]

Couple of events coming up:


The Fight against Blacklisting
Date: Monday 29th April, 2013
Venue: Tony Benn House, 92 Victoria Street, Redcliffe, Bristol BS1 6AY
Time: 7:30 pm
With: Di Parkin,

Di Parkin has been a left activist since the 1960s. She is a historian and published “60 years of struggle” history of Betteshanger, a militant Kent pit. She will be speaking about the actions on the Economic League in the 1970s, providing blacklisting information to employers and the impact on militants in places such as Cowley car works and Kent coal field.

An electrician who has worked in the construction industry for 40 years will talk about his experiences of victimisation and the campaign against blacklisting. He is an active member of Unite, shop steward on a number of jobs and the Welsh rep on the Rank and File National committee.

Followed by a discussion on how we can organise to prevent further victimisation and blacklisting.

Tony Benn House, 92 Victoria Street, Redcliffe, Bristol BS1 6AY

Organised by Bristol and District Hazards Group and Bristol Radical History Group

_______________________________________

Secret Manoeuvres in the Dark
Date: Saturday 13th April, 2013
Time: 3:00 pm
Venue: The Hydra Bookshop bristol
With: Eveline Lubbers,
Price: Donation

The Radical History Zone of the Bristol Anarchist Book Fair will get off to a cracking start as author Eveline Lubbers shines a light on corporate and police spying on activists – the topic of her new book, Secret Manoeuvres in the Dark.

In the best tradition of radical Investigative research. Secret Manoeuvres includes revelations from the Economic League’s blacklisting of trade unionists, to the McLibel case to the high-profile exposure of police spy Mark Kennedy. Secret Manoeuvres treads on some on some topical and daring territory, making the case that activists need to be savvy to thwart corporations’ strategic attempts to disrupt and neutralise critical environmental and social justice campaigns. Using, we are promised, exclusive access to previously confidential sources, independent investigator Eveline will share some secrets at Hydra.

 

[butchersapron]

Park lane has been shut by unite rank & file

 

[Mr.Bishie]

From Dave on twitter, riot plod apparently turned up

 

[Mr.Bishie]

 

[sihhi]

Here is someone's blacklist record all the way to co-signing general letters and standing as an SLP candidate:

 

[butchersapron]

Tonight 20-30: Panorama - Blacklist Britain.

See also.

 

[cesare]

Breakfast TV this morning featuring Ricky Tomlinson blacklisting and fight to clear name etc.

 

[butchersapron]

Good stuff - not giving up is he! He's supposed to be doing a thing for us down here on this and shrewsbury sometime soon, must chase that up and see what's happening.

 

[cesare]

Good stuff - not giving up is he! He's supposed to be doing a thing for us down here on this and shrewsbury sometime soon, must chase that up and see what's happening.

It's good he's not giving up, plus I think it brings it home to people - makes it a reality and in your face, rather than something happening to other people somewhere more removed etc.

 

[cesare]

Panorama just starting on bbc1

 

[treelover]

Shocking, have to give credit to Panorama for highlighting it



30 years later....

 

[sihhi]

Tomlinson also did this:

Playhouse Presents... Ragged

Directed by Johnny Vegas and written by Andrew Lynch, the drama homes in on Tomlinson's stand against the prison guards and system. Stephen Walters believes he is a political prisoner who has been wrongly imprisoned as part of an organised attack against trade unions masterminded by the government, police and construction industry.

Not seen it though, probably based on Dessie's autobiography.

 

[butchersapron]

Ah, that would explain why Johnny vegas was banging on about the ragged trousered philanthropists a month or so back.

 

[treelover]

wish I had Sky these days.

 

[sihhi]

Ah, that would explain why Johnny vegas was banging on about the ragged trousered philanthropists a month or so back.

He - Vegas - set up and directed a dramatisation of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists for Radio 4 back in 2007 2008 - nothing wrong with that.
He cast himself - fine - but also John Prescott the serving Minister/ MP.

 

[butchersapron]

Dave Smith@DaveBlacklist
#blacklist Flashmob in reaction to #panorama 5pm Tues 11th june. oxford st.#crossrail site. meet at TCR tube, stop the blacklist RT share