A joint venture between Costain and Skanska has been accused of union busting at its Bond Street Crossrail station site.

Construction union hit out at the firms over attempts to block a union official from its site.

This comes after an agreement was reached between the client Crossrail and the electrical subcontractors on the project that independent air quality monitoring should take place. It was scheduled to provide reassurance to the workforce after two recent unexplained deaths on the site.

Unite official Guy Langston and the union's two health and safety reps on the project would chose the workers who would have their air quality monitored.

The selected workers were fitted with the independent air monitoring kits on site on Tuesday, 08 October.

However, the following day Mr Langston received an email from Peter Raza, Head of Employee Relations, stating that he had failed to follow the proper protocols of accessing the site (despite being with the client) and also informing him that while Unite's safety reps would be allowed to be in attendance when the results of the monitoring will be delivered, Mr Langston was not invited to attend.

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Unite has now written to Mr Raza seeking confirmation that Mr Langston has been excluded from receiving the air quality monitoring results.

Unite national officer Jerry Swain said: "Costain and Skanska have sunk to a new low.

"While Unite's official has been going the extra mile to ensure that workers are reassured about their safety, following recent tragic events, there primary focus is to continue their union busting.

"Unite's official accompanied the client Crossrail for an inspection of the site, to provide reassurance to CSJV's workforce for which he is upbraided.

"Excluding the union official from attending the results of the air quality monitoring testing is only going to further unsettle the workforce and make it appear there is something to hide.

"Crossrail and the electrical subcontractors have been exemplary in their conduct during this tragic time and have done a huge amount to restore confidence in the workforce, the same cannot be said for CSJV.

"CSJV's union busting at Bond Street risks causing further industrial relations issues especially during this time of heightened concerns.

"Crossrail as the client needs to pull its contractor CSJV into line if it wishes to avoid further potential delays."

(CM/JG)