Construction union UCATT has discovered that government claims that the 1999 Employment Relations Act did not intend to make blacklisting a criminal offence are at odds with what the then Secretary of State said on the matter.

Following the construction blacklisting scandal which was uncovered in March, the government promised to introduce regulations, to make blacklisting illegal.

However, when the government published its reply to the consultation on the new regulations earlier this month, UCATT was outraged to discover that the proposals would not make blacklisting a criminal offence, did not provide an automatic award for compensation to all blacklisted workers, would not cover all activities "associated with trade unions", and that workers on a blacklist would not be automatically informed.

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On the issue of not introducing a criminal offence of blacklisting the government's consultation said: "The enabling power in Section 3 of the ERA 1999 is drawn wide enough to enable criminal offences to be created and small fines to be imposed. However, that wording was merely a contingency, should criminal offences be required, and there was no presumption during the Act's parliamentary passage that this option would be pursued."

Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of UCATT, said: "There is a paradox between the intention of the 1999 Employment Relations Act and the government’s current proposal not to make blacklisting a criminal offence. Following the Consulting Association scandal there is every reason to make blacklisting a criminal offence. I hope the government realises its error and moves swiftly to criminalize blacklisting."

(CD/KMcA)