Campaign against blacklisting - update

Union leaders are demanding the Olympic 2012 site is purged of all blacklists held on construction workers.
A host of contractors working on the games were among 40 firms exposed last week by the Information Commissioner's Office as members of the Consulting Association which held sensitive data on 3,213 workers.
Olympic Stadium builder Sir Robert McAlpine is believed to have spent nearly £30,000 last year alone on information to vet potential employees.

Unite joint general secretary Derek Simpson is calling for an immediate probe into all Olympic contractors caught up in the Consulting Association scandal.

He said: "On the basis that many of the employers concerned will be winning billions of pounds worth of public and private sector work, the government should announce an immediate investigation into the practices that exist in the industry."


The Consulting Association was run from the West Midlands by Ian Kerr. The company has been in operation for 15 years with contractors taking out a £3,000 a year subscription and paying £2.20 a time for details on each individual held on its database.

Kerr is now facing prosecution under the Data Protection Act and the fall-out from the scandal is creating waves across the industry.

Workers who have been blacklisted are set to launch legal action against contractors who denied them work.
Protection from future blacklisting is also expected to boost the number of workers protesting against the increased use of foreign workers in the industry.

Derek Simpson said: "So far this year we have seen waves of unofficial action because of employer practices aimed at excluding UK based labour from even applying for work on certain construction sites. Now we have undeniable evidence that employers are using covert information to blacklist workers for legitimate trade union activities."

A source close to Laing O'Rourke said: "It's a bit embarrasing to be named but we are purely on the list because two firms we took over - Laing and Crown House - were signed up to this.
"It was an admin error that it was never cancelled and we have never sought information on potential employees through groups like this"

From the Contract Journal.