Construction union UCATT have been forced to take legal action after Lend Lease the principal contractor on the Olympic Village refused to intervene on behalf of workers who have not been paid after working on the site.

The case involves two workers who were engaged by the employment agency James Varney (JPV Europe) to work as window fixers for Perry Bowen on the Olympic Village. The work finished at the end of July and the agency refused to pay the workers, who are from Eastern Europe, their outstanding wages of £2,500.

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Despite the best efforts of UCATT both Perry Bowen and Lend Lease have refused to intervene. Lend Lease have officially said that there "is nothing they can do about this" despite both companies profiting from the Olympic Village project.

UCATT have also written to the Olympic Delivery Authority asking them to intervene in order to ensure that the workers are paid what they are owed. In the meantime UCATT are taking the matter to an employment tribunal on behalf of the workers.

Jerry Swain, Regional Secretary of UCATT’s London and South East Region, said: "I find the attitude of the contractors both immoral and highly distasteful. They are able to sit back and count all the money they have made from this project, yet the workers who actually made the job happen, get nothing."

Mr Swain, added: "The ODA need to step in and sort this mess out. This is public money and it must go to the workers and not into someone's back pocket."

(CD)