Blacklisting: Anatomy of a Scandal Relations Labour
CRI Industry practice Industry practice Blacklisting: anatomy of a scandal Labour relations The blacklisting scandal that erupted in 2009 is only now coming to a head. In April a decision is expected on whether four separate lawsuits against the UK’s largest contractors can be combined into one – lawsuits that together could be worth hundreds of millions pounds. Separately, the contractors’ attempt to limit their liability with a compensation scheme foundered in February amid acrimonious talks with representatives of the blacklisted workers. As the battle lines continue to form, David Rogers interviewed the whistleblowers to uncover how the scandal came to light. Here he explains what it means, what happens next, and asks what it is about the UK construction industry that gave rise to blacklisting in the first place For 40 years and more it had been rumoured that employers in In most cases, it was the board director in charge of HR. Nobody the British construction industry maintained and shared a list of else in the subscriber company could be called. As Kerr later told people to be kept off their sites. The evidence was plentiful, but it a parliamentary select committee: “Everybody recognised that this was anecdotal and circumstantial. In any case, some people were was secret, sensitive information.” known to be troublemakers. Construction is a big industry but What follows is the story of how the blacklist came to light, a closed world, and word gets around. Just because some people the way it operated, and what happened after its existence was couldn’t get a job no matter how many hundreds they applied for, exposed.
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