Construction union UCATT fears that new regulations designed to outlaw blacklisting contains so many loopholes they will not deter the practice.

Last Wednesday the Government published its response to the consultation on blacklisting and committed itself to produce the necessary regulations.

In 'Ruined Lives' UCATT's submission to the blacklisting consultation, the union argued that the regulations should not just make it illegal to blacklist for "trade union activities" but should prevent blacklisting for "activities associated with trade unions". UCATT says the Government has totally ignored this key concern.

Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of UCATT, said: "The Government has repeatedly promised to outlaw blacklisting.

-- Advertisement --

The proposed regulations fail to achieve this. Not only are these regulations entirely inadequate, the Government’s consultation response favours the continuation of blacklisting in certain circumstances."

According to UCATT, the Government also failed to address the routine blacklisting of safety representatives and campaigners, which was a notable feature of the Consulting Association's blacklisting practices.

The Government gives credit to the Heating and Ventilating Contractors Association call that, "vetting of prospective employees was necessary to weed out trouble-makers, criminal elements or other undesirable people". Its document says: "virtually all vetting activity which should normally have nothing to do with trade union matters, is left unaffected". The Government's response also says it, "does not consider that a safety exemption should be created".

UCATT are highly disturbed that the failure to specifically protect safety representatives and the allowance of "vetting" for activities other than trade union matters, will mean that these workers will continue to be considered by employers to be "trouble-makers" and "undesirable people" and as such will continue to be blacklisted.

Before becoming law the new regulations have to be debated and approved by both Houses of Parliament. UCATT will be stepping up their campaign and working with sympathetic Labour MPs to have the regulations radically overhauled.

(CD/BMcc)