גמב קאַללס פֿאַר באַרינג קאַרילליאָן און אנדערע פון ​​עפנטלעך קאַנטראַקץ ביז זיי פאַרגיטיקן קסנומקס בלאַקליסטיד סקאַטיש טוערס

מיינונג

The compensation offer of between £15m and £20m is grossly inadequate for firms with pre-tax profits of £1.04 billion who have to own up, clean up and pay up and until they do so they should get no more work in Scotland, says GMB.

GMB, the union for construction workers, is stepping up the campaign for Carillion and other firms to be excluded from tendering for any further public sector contracts in Scotland until they compensate the 582 workers in Scotland that they blacklisted.

This next step in the GMB campaign follows a recent letter to Scottish construction firms from the Scottish Government seeking their help in publicising the Scottish Government's guidelines on blacklisting in relation to public sector contracts. See notes to editors 1 for copy of the letter.

The letter states that the "guidance makes it clear that firms which have engaged in blacklisting have committed an act of grave professional misconduct and should be excluded from public procurement, unless they can demonstrate appropriate remedial action".

GMB plan to advise those dealing with tendering of public contracts that neither Carillion nor the other firms that blacklisted workers have yet paid any compensation and under these guidelines should be excluded from public procurement until they do. Blacklisting came to light when in 2009 the ICO seized a Consulting Association database of 3,213 construction workers and environmental activists used by 44 companies to vet new recruits and keep out of employment trade union and health and safety activists.

In July 2014, Leigh Day, acting for GMB, begun action in the High Court in London seeking compensation for 122 GMB members blacklisted by Carillion and other firms. GMB’s claims are joined with a further 449 claims by other unions and parties.

אַדווערטייזמאַנט

In June 2014 talks between GMB and lawyers representing eight construction employers on a compensation scheme for 3,213 blacklisted workers broke down in June over the amount of money being put into the scheme by the employers. The eight construction employers are Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and VINCI PLC.

Following the breakdown of talks these employers announced that they are unilaterally going ahead with a scheme GMB estimates will cost these employers between £15m and £20m. This is less than 2% of the combined profits of the eight construction firms in the talks.

So far 1,724 out of the 3,213 on the list know they are on blacklist. 467 were identified by themselves on by their unions. 570 cases are covered by claims in the High Court. ICO contacted direct a further 1,257 and of these 776 has now been sent a copy of their files.  That leaves 1,489 still to trace. On קסנומקסטה אפריל the ICO said: &quotWe don’t plan to write out to any more people, as we believe we’ve written to everyone who we can be sure of having up-to-date details for.&quot

Harry Donaldson, Secretary GMB Scotland, said "Public money should not go to companies like Carillion that have engaged in blacklisting till they have purged their guilt.

The Scottish Government has taken a strong lead in showing that companies who blacklist don't deserve the opportunity to bid for public contracts.

The current law allows governments and local authorities to bar these companies from the tender lists. The 2014 EU Procurement Directive is only going to strengthen their position. The Scottish Government's stance adds serious weight to the fact that blacklisting counts as "grave misconduct" in procurement law.

Anything other than removing these companies from tender lists in Scotland is unthinkable until they make a decent offer to compensate those they blacklisted.

Carillion and the other firms have yet to compensate those they blacklisted. They are in front of the High Court in London again in November as workers seek damages from them.

The total compensation which they offered in June is estimated to be is between £15m and £20m. That is less than £3m per company. This is grossly inadequate to deal with the devastating damage inflicted on people in their working lives and the colossal invasion of their privacy.

The companies should get serious and make proper restitution and close the book on this shameful chapter.

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