vodkazvictim
Why save the world, when you can rule it?
Well? I don't think I got arund to posting on this at the time and I don't think it's been posted...
Published on 02/05/2013 19:00
Unionised workers have gathered outside the Scottish Parliament to demand a ban on companies who blacklist trade union members from bidding for public-sector contracts and for their bosses to be put in prison.
• Allegations stem from a raid in 2009 that uncovered lists of unionised construction workers
• The lists compiled by The Consulting Association were sold on to building contractors.
Dozens of workers turned out for a Unite union rally chanting “no public contracts for blacklisting companies” and “blacklisting is crime - blacklisting bosses should do time”.
Their allegations stem from a 2009 raid by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on the offices of The Consulting Association, an organisation which compiled details of unionised construction workers which it sold on to contractors for profit.
Jim Currie, 61, an electrician from Glasgow, said his details were among the 3,213 names in the association’s files.
Speaking at the protest today, he said: “I’ve always been a trade union official of some sort, either a shop steward or a safety rep.
“I tried to make the building sites safe and comfortable, asking for more toilets and washing facilities and things like that.
“It would cost the companies more money to install these things, so their answer was to get rid of the activists and frighten the rest of the workforce.
“Over the years I have found it very hard to continue working while my non-unionised friends were getting jobs, so we have always known there was a blacklist but we couldn’t prove it until the ICO raid.
“I have had to pursue my career throughout Great Britain, working in London and spending a lot of time away from my ****** and two sons.
“I’ve also had to endure long spells of unemployment which obviously affects ****** life. I’ve spent many a Christmas with no job and no prospects.”
Rozanne Foyer, senior regional organiser at Unite, said: “We are here to demand justice for our members who have been blacklisted for decades, whose lives have been ruined, whose families have been put into poverty.
“We are also here to demand that there will be no public contracts for blacklisting companies coming out of Scotland’s purse.”
She added: “We don’t want rhetoric or sympathy, we want action, answers and accountability from these companies.
“To the Government, we say give us a public inquiry and do not give money to blacklisters until they can prove that they have they righted their wrongs.
“To the blacklisting companies our message is simple: we know who you are, where you are, we are coming after you, and we will not stop until you have stopped your immoral practices.”
Labour MSP Neil Findlay led a members’ debate on blacklisting in the Scottish Parliament today.
He said: “It’s fantastic that the guys are here as it shows the strength of feeling on this issue.
“It’s a human-rights ***** that has been going on for decades and now that the Commons Scottish Affairs Committee has managed to expose the activities of the Consulting Association and all of the major construction companies we are hopefully going to get justice.
“I would like the Scottish Government to engage with the trade unions and others who have got an interest in this issue, and I would personally like the Scottish Parliament to have an inquiry into this to find out the extent in Scotland.
“I would also like to see new guidance when the new Procurement Reform Bill comes forward so that we can ensure that this never happens again.
“We won’t know how prevalent this is in Scotland until we have an inquiry.”
Unions are expected to stage a series of protests later this morning in an escalating campaign against publicly-funded construction firms implicated in anti-union blacklisting.
(Pictured: Crossrail tunnelling work under way at Westbourne Park, London)
Unite has organised a demonstration in west London against the newly-appointed Chief Executive of the London Crossrail scheme, Andrew Wolstenholme.
Unite believes it has strong evidence of systematic targeting of union activists on the publicly-funded, £16bn project.
It comes as Members of the Scottish Parliament are due to debate details of legislation designed to prevent firms with any history of blacklisting in the past from being allowed to tender for publicly-funded work north of the border.
Crossrail CEO Andrew Wolstenholme is the keynote speaker at a major exhibition for the rail industry at Earls Court today.
Unite organisers say he will be greeted by protestors seeking to alert Crossrail’s stakeholders of the effect of blacklisting on people’s lives.
The series of public protests is also designed to highlight how the ******* practice could damage the reputations of Crossrail and the organisations associated with it.
Crossrail denies it has been involved in blacklisting. However, unions say reps and other workers have been dismissed because of their trade union activities by companies involved in this major infrastructure project.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “Time and time again we have given Crossrail the opportunity to work constructively with us to implement a union agreement which would deliver stability and safety.
“Instead we have significant evidence of blacklisting on the site and a series of unacceptable and avoidable accidents with one worker being left with severe burns across his body.
“It is time for Crossrail to stop paying lip service to employment rights and cooperate with Unite to deliver meaningful union recognition and re-employ the union members who have been unfairly sacked for supporting their colleagues.”
This comes as the Scottish Labour Party has pledged to support an amendment to the public sector procurement bill being debated at Holyrood today.
Unions are expected to stage a lobby of MSPs outside the Edinburgh building.
Campaigners want to ensure all companies engaged in blacklisting are barred from tendering for public contracts.
They also want the dozens of firms which subscribed to the now-defunct Consulting Association blacklist pay compensation to its victims, which could run to thousands of people.
Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont MSP said:“It is appalling that working people were denied the opportunity to earn a living for their families because they refused to accept unfair conditions at their workplace.
“It is the worst kind of ***** of power and those impacted rightly feel angry to this day that companies were allowed to collude and act in this way.”
It is not clear whether the SNP government will back Labour’s call for tighter financial restrictions on firms previously linked to blacklisting.
The Welsh Assembly and a number of local authorities in England have already adopted similar measures.
UCATT general secretary Steve Murphy said: “The blacklisters must understand that there is no hiding place.
“Throughout Scotland and the whole of the United Kingdom increased pressure will be placed on the blacklisters until the blacklisted victims win justice.”
