A SIGNIFICANT breakthrough in the continuing legal case over alleged blacklisting in Britain’s construction industry is only “part of the battle”, a lawyer representing affected trade unionists has warned.
More than 600 construction workers whose names appeared on the industry-wide blacklist have edged closer to obtaining damages, which could total tens of millions of pounds.
The substantial pay-out would follow the admission by some of Britain’s biggest construction firms — including Irish-run company Laing O’Rourke — that they defamed workers and breached their confidence.
The Irish Post previously reported that hundreds of Irish workers appeared in the infamous database.
Solicitor Michael Newman of the firm Leigh Day, which is representing GMB union members told The Irish Post: “This is a big step for members as it’s the first time the construction companies have admitted to infringing workers’ rights.
“They’ve admitted that they collected the information, but they refuse to take legal responsibility. They admit they were members of the Consulting Association but that they did not provide the information to anyone else. It’s only part of the battle though.”
Representatives from all parties attended the High Court on October 8 ahead of the 12-week trial to take place in May 2016.
Solicitors representing the eight leading construction firms submitted a “full and unreserved” apology to the High Court for the effect that the vetting of the information had on workers.
Macfarlanes said: “We recognise and regret the impact it had on employment opportunities for those workers affected and for any distress and anxiety it caused to them and their families.”
Details of the construction industry blacklist emerged in 2009 following a raid by the Information Commissioner’s Officer on the premises of The Consulting Association.
More than 3,000 names in total, including those of Irish workers, were found to appear on the illegal blacklist as well as reference cards containing allegations against workers over their political affiliations and trade union membership.
Maria Ludkin, GMB National Officer for Legal and Corporate Affairs, told The Irish Post that whilst the admissions by the construction firms were an achievement, there was still a long way to go.
“We’re 35 per cent of the way there, the companies have made admissions for the first time that they did something wrong, but at this point they’re saying they’ll only accept it if it had adverse economic impacts on someone, then they will say sorry,” she said.
“It’s a tactical move, it’s not as full an admission as we’d like. They admit it’s wrong and illegal and indefensible but they’ve put it on the claimants now to prove.
“There have been horror stories where some workers haven’t worked for years, their marriages have broken down under the economic hardship putting a strain on the family, some of these people were qualified engineers who now have to get their kids free school meals and milk tokens.”
The Unite union said that the fresh admissions in the “scandal that has ruined lives” meant hundreds of workers were now on the verge of securing damages.
Assistant General Secretary for Unite, Gail Cartmail: “The admissions from the blacklisters and the damages for the blacklisted are an important step on the road to justice in righting that wrong.”
The construction union UCATT described the news as a “massive breakthrough”.
Secretary of the Blacklist Support Group (BSG), Dave Smith, said that the construction companies’ admissions show that after six years of denying their involvement, they are now “surrendering”.
“We’ve now got all the aces, they’ve got nothing,” he told The Irish Post. “Whatever the offer of money from the firms, the BSG still want exposure and a public inquiry. Now, with [Jeremy] Corbyn and [John] McDonnell, who chaired the group’s first ever meeting, if Labour ever came to power an enquiry would be almost certain.”
In October 2013, there were also allegations against police officers that they’d helped to blacklist the construction workers.
At the time The Irish Post reported that the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) revealed that it is “likely that all special branches were involved in providing information” used to keep labourers out of work.
The information emerged from a Metropolitan Police inquiry into whether officers supplied information contained on a secret database held by The Consulting Association.
The BSG were recently awarded core participant status in the Government’s Pitchford Inquiry into undercover policing, enabling the group to have greater leverage in driving forward the blacklisting case.
The other defendants in the case include: Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and VINCI.
