NEGOTIATIONS on compensation for blacklisted construction workers are on the verge of collapse, a trade union leader has warned.
The GMB union claimed the eight blacklisting firms behind the redress scheme are offering “grossly inadequate” payments to workers whose lives were ruined by the practice.
Mr Kenny, general secretary of the GMB, said the talks are “on the brink of breaking down”.
“The main stumbling block is the amount of compensation being offered to the victims of blacklisting in whatever form that took,” he explained.
“The total current cash envelope for fast track compensation we estimate is between £15m and £20m. That is less than £3m per company.
“This is grossly inadequate to deal with the devastating damage inflicted on people in their working lives and the colossal invasion of their privacy.”
Hundreds of Irish workers are among the 3,213 people whose names appeared on the secret construction industry database.
It was used to keep so-called “troublemakers” out of work, but some were placed on the blacklist just for raising health and safety concerns.
A spokesperson for the compensation scheme being set up by some blacklisting firms, including Irish-rub Laing O’Rourke, denied Mr Kenny’s claims.
She said it would not be possible to estimate the cost of the scheme until negotiations were concluded.
She added: “As far as we are concerned we are still in ongoing discussion and we have already made many significant concessions in response to union requests. They include compensation payment levels.”
