Blacklisting Laws Delayed Due To Human Rights Concerns, Following UCATT Lobbying

Construction union UCATT has won a delay in the implementation of blacklisting laws, due to concerns that the current proposals fail to stamp out the practice. The delay in the implementation of the regulations is a significant victory in UCATT’s campaign to win justice for blacklisted construction workers.

UCATT wrote to and directly contacted members of the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments expressing their grave concerns that the current regulations will fail to end blacklisting. When the committee met on Wednesday 20 January to consider the regulations, a decision was made to delay ratifying the regulations for a week, as the committee were concerned that the proposals do not comply with human rights obligations.

Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of UCATT, said: “The pause in the parliamentary process is welcome. Outlawing blacklisting is a fundamental issue for UCATT. The Government now has the opportunity to rethink and redraft regulations which as they stand are entirely inadequate to stamp out blacklisting.”

As they stand the regulations do not make blacklisting a criminal offence, despite a Government promise in 1999 this would be the case. The regulations also only cover blacklisting of workers undertaking the limited definition of “trade union activities” and specifically rules out protecting workers involved in unofficial industrial action, including stoppages due to safety concerns or a refusal to undertake voluntary overtime.

Nor do the regulations provide for automatic compensation to any worker who is found to have been blacklisted and if an illegal blacklist was discovered the affected workers would have no automatic right to be informed of the fact. The regulations also allow for certain circumstances which would allow companies to legally draw up lists of trade unionists for recruitment practices, which could result in backdoor blacklisting.

The joint committee on Human Rights also raised concerns about the weakness of the blacklisting regulations in December 2009. The committee criticised the regulations for being incompatible with the Government’s human rights commitments and that the proposals failed to provide an adequate remedy for workers who had previously been blacklisted.

Mr Ritchie, added: “There is growing disquiet about the weakness of the blacklisting regulations. It is vital that the Government listens to these genuine concerns and acts accordingly.”

For Further information contact Barckley Sumner on 0780 2329235

UCATT represents 125,000 members employed in the construction industry throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland

Note to Editors: Blacklisting is not currently illegal the Government had originally intended to outlaw the practice and made provision to do so in the 1999 Employment Relations Act. However the necessary regulations were never introduced, as there was not any concrete evidence that blacklisting was still taking place.

 In March 2009 it was revealed following an investigation by the Information Commissioners Office that a company the Consulting Association was operating a blacklist in the construction industry. Over 40 major construction companies were using the blacklist, which contained the names and information in excess of 3,000 construction workers.

In July 2009 Ian Kerr who ran the Consulting Association was fined just £5,000 for Data Protection Offences, despite the Consulting Association having a turnover of over £100,000 per annum.