City Hall calls on Boris to denounce blacklisting scandal

The motion agreed yesterday by members of the Assembly, by 14 votes to three, also urges the mayor to reject blacklisting and emphasise the importance of allowing employees to raise health and safety fears in the workplace.

Assembly member John Biggs, who proposed the motion, said: "The bad practice of employers in the construction industry using blacklisting databases needs to be brought to an end. We need clear evidence from the mayor that Crossrail has not been involved in this practice, both now and in the future. Employees must have the right to bring up health and safety concerns without fear of damage to their livelihoods. The shameful and illegal practice of blacklisting must be in no way linked to Crossrail, especially as this £14.8bn project is funded by taxpayer money. London must lead the way and be seen to be an exemplary employer."

The agreed motion starts off: "This Assembly notes that links between the shameful and unlawful practice of blacklisting and Crossrail’s industrial relations manager, Ron Barron, risk tarnishing the integrity of this taxpayer-funded project. To illustrate just how widespread blacklisting in the construction industry is, in February 2009 the Information Commissioner’s officials raided the offices of ‘The Consulting Association’, a firm operating a blacklist containing the names of thousands of construction workers. Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Amec, Skanska, Taylor Woodrow, Sir Robert McAlpine (the Olympic Stadium contractor), and over 30 other construction companies used the Consulting Association database, which contained information about construction workers’ personal relationships, trade union activity, and employment history.”

It continues later: “This Assembly notes that the chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation has partially addressed concerns about the issue of blacklisting on the Olympic Park and other ODA projects. However, the assembly awaits with interest the response of the Information Commissioner’s Office regarding whether any ODA Tier 1 contractors carried out checks through the Consulting Association.”

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