Activists have been protesting at the Labour Party conference in Manchester to highlight what they see as illegal blacklisting by more than 40 UK construction firms.

Attendees at yesterday’s conference may have been surprised to see campaigners, including one dressed as a Grim Reaper, campaigning at the beginning of the five-day, annual event.

The activists were members of the GMB Union. They carried out the stunt against construction giants Carillion who are one of the many construction companies accused by unions of blacklisting.

GMB national officer Paul Maloney said: "This protest is to highlight that none of the 3,213 workers blacklisted have had an apology or any compensation from employers like Carillion who blacklisted health and safety representatives. Only 194 have been informed that they were blacklisted and the rest still don't know.

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"It is also to highlight the terrible toll of death and injury in the construction sector and to underline the importance of the proper enforcement of health and safety laws to prevent this carnage."

GMB believes construction firms should have to pay hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation to the thousands of workers who are on blacklists.

GMB general secretary Paul Kenny said payouts to the construction workers could reach £600m.

The union wants to take legal action and is calling for firms involved in blacklisting to be denied contracts in the public sector.

A spokesman for Carillion said: "We are very disappointed by the GMB's actions this morning at the Labour party conference. They sent out a wholly misleading message about Carillion's health and safety record, and cynically mixed these up with a raft of incorrect and untrue allegations about our alleged involvement in blacklisting."

(IT/GK)