Leading construction firms to set up blacklist fund

Some of the biggest firms in the construction industry are to compensate workers who were blacklisted from working on building sites including Carillion, who look to enter the Offender Management market should GraylinG4s get his way and privatise it.

Trade unions say thousands of people on the list were denied work for years.

The blacklist was uncovered following a raid by the Information Commissioner’s Office in 2009.  It found that dozens of construction firms had been checking potential employees against a blacklist which contained details of about 3,200 workers.

While most on it were members of unions, some had simply raised health and safety concerns on sites.

In a statement, the companies – Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and Vinci – said they all apologised “for their involvement with TCA and the impact that its database may have had on any individual construction worker”.

The eight companies have apologised for their involvement with an organisation that kept the list but have not admitted liability but it must raise concerns for our members as Carillion have recently announced their interest in delivering probation services across the country