BLACKLISTED CONSTRUCTION WORKERS DISGRACE.

The hacked off campaign recently called for legislation to underpin rules to control what newspapers can print. Set around a backdrop of phone hacking which included illegally accessing the personal messages of members of the public, politicians and celebrities, the enquiry by Lord Justice Brian Leveson cost tax payers an estimated £5million.
In the end Levison agreed there should be underpinning but stated clearly that the government must have no control over what news papers print.
The year long enquiry attracted the attention of the worlds media, receiving a lot of coverage in news papers and television. The celebrities tried to portray themselves as David taking on Goliath, the tiny people against the roaring Murdoch machine. MP's jumped into the debate, eventually, some say kicking the newspaper industry when it was down.
In contrast a similar David against Goliath battle has been taking place virtually unreported. Unreported because there are no famous names involved. There are no politicians wading in, no Hollywood millionaires who's very existence depends on media coverage, claiming to have had their privacy invaded. This has failed to attract coverage in the press and failed to attract assistance from the Government because the victims of this enquiry are working class people who have had their lives destroyed by millionaire building giants.
Sir Robert McAlpine is a British company that has its headquarters in the heart of London. It carries out engineering and construction for oil and gas as well as been involved heavily in defence, nuclear and pharmaceutical industries. As well as building the original Wembley Stadium back in 1924 it built the millennium dome in 1999, Arsenal's Emirates Stadium and won the contract for the Olympic stadium for London 2012, for a price of £537million.
The company is also the biggest firm accused of compiling a blacklist of 3213 construction workers, effectively rendering them jobless for three decades.
The construction industry remains one of the most dangerous professions to be employed in. Last year alone in this country 50 people died on building sites. To put that number into context less than 10 police officers died on duty and less than 50 soldiers were killed in Afghanistan last year.
Remarkably, many of the blacklisted workers were put on the list because they raised concerns about health and safety conditions or belonged to trade unions. Site managers supplied details to a consultation association often supplying false information and in turn human resources departments then payed £2 for that information to check job applications. Records show that McAlpine alone spent almost £30000 on these checks.  3400 workers were on the list by time it was eventually seized.
The similarities to the Leveson affair are striking as it is alleged in both cases that the Police were involved in unlawful activities. Some of the information on the database, finally closed in 2009, could only have been received from the police. some workers found a dossiers, which included arrests even though they did not lead to conviction. Other entries on the database included picketing activities.
It is illegal for employers to discriminate against workers for belonging to a trade union and yet McAlpine and other leading construction companies including Balfour Beatty, Carillion and over 30 other building giants are accused of refusing employment to hundreds of England and Scotland's skilled tradesmen.
In 2012 some of these tradesmen took part in a protest at the Labour party conference - even this failed to attract any real media attention.
It is an absolute outrage that men and women should be forced into unemployment and in some cases into abject poverty simply because they belonged to a trade union or dared to raise concerns about safety.
It is an even greater miscarriage of justice that their plight has been ignored by the powers that be in a county that claims to be built on democracy. The most shameful allegation of all is perhaps claims that the practise is going on even today in the £15 billion cross rail project.
Journalist's who defend the right to report stories to protect the public from systematic abuse should be deeply ashamed that their pens seem to have run dry when it comes to fighting for the rights of construction workers. Politicians from all parties should should ask themselves if this is fair. I hope the on going court case, all be it an almost completely unreported court case will result in justice for the construction workers involved so that they can receive appropriate compensation and finally start to rebuild there lives.


blacklist,  construction, Unions