The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 21st April 2023
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 21st April 2023
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Just after Easter Unite the Union issued a press release about blacklisting of union activists in the construction industry. For literally centuries trade union activists have been blacklisted by employers who don’t want active trade unionists on their sites and prefer willing tools who do as they’re told.
The press release announced that the union has commissioned a legal team to look into the extent of blacklisting. There is, however, a slight twist. It is not a matter of personnel managers or the secret police doing the black- listing, but union officials passing on names to the blacklisters.
This matter has been going on for years but progress has been unsurprisingly slow. It was last April when the union formally established an “independent inquiry into allegations that some union officials may have colluded with the blacklisting of construction workers”. Only now has it instructed the lawyers from 33 Chancery Lane Chambers and the Public Interest Law Centre to investigate. An Independent Blacklisting Collusion Inquiry has also been set up, with an online portal (https://ibci.uk) established for victims to make contact.
Announcing the new development, General Secretary Sharon Graham said: “Since becoming general secretary of Unite, I have made it completely clear that no stone will be left un-turned to obtain conclusive proof whether any current or former union officials were involved in the blacklisting of workers. Blacklisting is a disgusting practice which ruins workers’ lives. Unite has been and continues to be at the forefront of stamping out this practice once and for all. That is why the inquiry into any collusion between union officials and blacklisters is so critical.”
Her 2021 election campaign, which saw her becoming General Secretary, featured a pledge to set up an inquiry. A cynic might think the ongoing Unite executive elections are behind the latest move to revive the issue.
There is no doubt that senior union officials were involved in blacklisting. Unite was founded in 2007 with a merger between the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) and the engineering union Amicus, itself a merger between the AEEU and MSF. In 2017 Unite took over the declining construction union UCATT, which is the main focus of the investigation, although the other legacy unions are not as pure as the driven snow.
In 2009 a raid by the Information Commissioners Office at the offices of the Consulting Association took place, which resulted in the discovery that the names of 3,000 construction workers were on its blacklist. The notorious Economic League had done the same previously with the aid of the police and intelligence services.
Some of those mentioned read the files and discovered that it was trade union officials who had passed on the details to the Consulting Association. In 2014 an ex-UCATT president and London Regional Secretary told a House of Commons inquiry that: “Officers and officials of the unions in construction have for many years, supplied information to the special branch and the police about activists in their unions as well as construction employees.”
Unite said at the time that it supported a public inquiry but did not apply much energy to the issue. In 2016 the Blacklist Support Group secured a £75 million pay-out at the High Court, with major construction firms such as Sir Robert McAlpine and Balfour Beatty paying compensation, and an “unreserved and sincere” apology to those blacklisted workers.
At the of the time of the 2017 General Secretary election, the incumbent and victor Len McCluskey supported an inquiry again, but played down any union malpractice. He announced that a barrister had been appointed to investigate the claims, with no results. One blacklisted worker who named names to McCluskey complained he had heard nothing after producing full documentation.
Despite these delays it is perfectly clear that blacklisting by union officials is a boil that needs lancing. Not all of these were from the right-wing, some belong to organisations whose own members have justly complained about left-wingers being backlisted. Whilst Trots can be a pain in the neck, the use of black-listing against them is disgraceful and undermines the reputation of trade unions.
It is telling that the Morning Star failed to note the latest Unite press release, perhaps their advertising department advised against. There is nothing to be gained by trade unions and left organisations refusing to put their houses in order. Open wounds sometimes need painful treatment rather than being left to fester.