Construction union UCATT will hold a demonstration on Friday outside the Northampton offices of employment agency Atlanco Rimec, after a TV programme in Denmark alleged that Atlanco Rimec was involved in the blacklisting of construction workers.

Atlanco Rimec has thousands of construction workers on its books and operates internationally in the United Kingdom, Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, France, Poland, Norway and Australia.

Following the revelations on Danish TV, Ian Davidson MP the chair of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee, which is holding a long running inquiry into blacklisting said he was minded to hold "further hearings" into the matter.


Atlanco Rimec are no strangers to controversy. The European federation of construction unions, the EFBWW, have accused the company of social dumping. In particular, this relates to a group of Portuguese workers employed to build the A2 in the Netherlands. The workers had €968 per month deducted directly from their wages for "logistical costs". Between three or four of the workers were then housed in properties that were due to be demolished and which Atlanco Rimec were renting for just €350 a month.

Steve Murphy, General Secretary of UCATT, said: "UCATT members are angry that a company that operates in the UK is allegedly involved in blacklisting and mistreating construction workers. It is clear that blacklisting is continuing to occur in construction and it must be stamped out once and for all."

Cheryl Pidgeon, Regional Secretary for the UCATT Midlands Region, added: "Atlanco Rimec employs thousands of construction workers. Workers who have sought employment with them have the right to know whether they have been secretly blacklisted."

(MH/JP)