The tribunal came down on the side of the company, which had admitted that Dave Smith had been blacklisted by Carillion subsidiaries Schal and John Mowlem, but denied any responsibility as Mr Smith was an agency employee and not directly employed.
The hearing established that Carillion and its subsidiaries had supplied information and allegations about Mr Smith, some of it unsubstantiated and damaging, to an organisation called the Consulting Association, which held files on politicians, journalists, lawyers and academics and operated a blacklist in the construction industry.
Mr Smith told Socialist Worker newspaper: “Because of UK law, agency workers don’t have rights. Carillion admitted blacklisting me, but claimed I wasn’t its employee. Trade union rights are human rights. We are going to fight in the courts and the building sites to get them.”
Labour MP John McDonnell described the blacklisting affair as “one of the worst cases of organised human rights abuse ever in the UK”. He said: “I am calling upon the government to launch a public inquiry into the full extent and impact on people’s lives of blacklisting. These revelations are truly shocking and warrant a detailed and open, public investigation.”
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