Andrew Dismore

The following motion has been proposed in the name of Andrew Dismore AM and will be seconded by Tom Copley AM:

“This Assembly rejects the shameful, decades-old practice of blacklisting that has in the UK construction industry, ruined the lives of thousands of workers and their families18. The wide scale nature of blacklisting was illustrated by the Information Commissioner’s 2009 raid on the offices of the notorious Consulting Association, which uncovered a blacklist containing the names of thousands of construction workers19.

Over thirty large construction companies used the Consulting Association database, which contained information about construction workers’ personal relationships, trade union activity, and employment history20. This Assembly notes that most of the workers on the blacklist of the Consulting Association were trade unionists, many of them blacklisted for raising legitimate health and safety concerns with their employer.

This Assembly is therefore concerned to learn that Keir Group – a founder member of the Consulting Association21 – is involved in the building, development, and maintenance of the nine PFI fire stations that are being constructed across London. This is especially disappointing, given the Mayor’s categorical statement in 2013 that:

“I do not condone or tolerate the blacklisting of workers, whether for raising health and safety concerns or for any other reason.”22

This Assembly is determined that blacklisting should never occur again and calls on the Mayor to emphasise to all functional bodies that every employee must be protected in raising health and safety concerns and their fundamental right to trade union membership without the fear of reprisals be upheld; and calls on LFEPA to examine whether its internal procurement processes and/or commercial law allows it to exclude contractors that have been implicated in the practice of blacklisting, such as Kier Group.”