‘THERE still needs to be a full public inquiry into blacklisting and the activities of major construction employers who still to this day restrict trade union activities in major construction sites, leading to poor practices, health and safety risks and increased fatalities.’
This was the conclusion of Unite Assistant General Secretary Gail Cartmail on Tuesday after seeing the Tory coalition’s response to the Scottish Affairs Committee’s recommendations on tackling blacklisting.
The Scottish Affairs Committee published its second report on blacklisting entitled Blacklisting in employment: addressing the crimes of the past: moving towards best practice on 12 March 2014.
But in a letter to Ian Davidson MP, the committee’s chair, the government’s minister for employment relations and consumer affairs, Jenny Willott, clearly revealed that she has rejected the Scottish Affairs Committee’s recommendation to promote direct employment in the construction industry.
The union points to the widespread use of agencies in the construction industry, which means that agency workers do not enjoy the same level of employment rights and this includes protection from blacklisting.
The union also condemned the fact that the minister has clearly failed to appreciate the importance of the committee’s recommendations to ensure that contractors that have had a history of blacklisting demonstrate how they have ‘self-cleaned’ before being allowed to tender for any more public contracts.
Assistant secretary Cartmail said: ‘The government is not learning the lessons of the blacklisting scandal. It continues to be very relaxed about the dangers of blacklisting, citing a lack of evidence for blacklisting continuing today.
‘But that is exactly what governments said before the blacklisting conspiracy was discovered in 2008 and secret plots by their nature are difficult to uncover. That is why we need proactive measures from the government to prevent blacklisting from taking root again.
‘We’re disappointed that the employment minister Jenny Willot has not supported the Scottish Affairs Committee’s recommendations on direct employment and self-cleaning. Ensuring construction workers are directly employed and forcing employers who have blacklisted to demonstrate how they have cleaned up their acts would be effective measures to prevent blacklisting.’
• Following their 24-hour walk-out on Tuesday earlier this week, nearly 500 workers employed by the EDF Energy privateer are holding a second day of strike action today in an increasingly bitter pay struggle.
Unite says the dispute is causing delays in fixing and installing pre-pay gas and electricity meters for ‘customers’. Revenue protection is also affected – as the workers on strike include those dealing with business owners and private customers who the union says are allegedly fiddling and stealing electricity.
Unite members at EDF in London, south east, eastern and the south are striking because of the employer’s continued failure to implement the 2012 pay agreement and because of a two per cent pay offer for 2013 which fails to take account of the soaring true cost of living.
At first the employer claimed that it had got the figures wrong and had not realised how much its 2012 pay agreement would cost. If this were not bad enough, says the union, the privateer then admitted that it only signed the agreement to avoid a strike and had no intention of honouring it!
Unite warned yesterday that further action was definitely on the cards, unless managers from the highly profitable EDF Energy agrees to begin negotiating in a constructive fashion.
A total of 486 employees, members of Unite, were balloted in the London, south eastern, south west and eastern regions. They voted by the large margin of 77 per cent to take strike action and by an even larger 88 per cent in favour of industrial action short of a strike.
Unite regional officer Kasab Onay said: ‘Strike action is already causing disruption across the capital, the south east, south west and the east of England.
‘More industrial action is on the cards unless the management of this highly profitable company engage in constructive talks. Workers are taking action because EDF is refusing to honour an agreement signed in 2012 and to make matters even worse the company is offering a pay deal for 2013 which does not even keep up with the rising costs of living.
‘We urge EDF to return to the negotiating table, honour its agreements and reach a fair deal for workers who deserve to have their contribution to the success of the business recognised.’
• Land Registry staff will hold a two-day strike over plans to sell off the trusted 150-year-old agency and cut jobs, the Public and Commercial Services union has announced.
The walkout, among the union’s 3,000 members in 14 locations in England and Wales, will be on Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 May. Despite repeated requests, Land Registry bosses have refused to rule out compulsory redundancies and office closures as the government appears to favour pressing ahead with privatisation.
Business minister Michael Fallon is officially still considering responses to his consultation into the Land Registry’s future, with options being to move it from the civil service to a ‘government owned company’; into a joint venture with a private company; or to maintain it in public ownership.
But the union believes the majority of respondents, including professionals and lawyers in the property industry, are completely opposed to any change of status.
It has been reported that the registry’s board of senior managers has received a presentation on plans for a future joint venture just days after the consultation closed.
The Land Registry, which is self-financing and receives no public funds, enjoys a 96% customer satisfaction rating and in 19 of the last 20 years has made money for the Treasury – £96 million last year.
The union says maintaining it in public ownership would not only keep it free from conflicts of interest, it could provide an added public service in helping to deal with the housing crisis through regulation of land use and setting up a register of landlords.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: ‘Despite clear opposition from staff, lawyers and industry professionals, it appears ministers are determined to hand over yet another successful public asset to the private sector.
‘The government has failed to make any kind of case for the need to privatise what is a well trusted and respected 150-year-old agency. The move is for purely political reasons and we are committed to doing everything we can to stop it.’
• The GMB issued a warning on Tuesday that a YES vote in the referendum for an elected mayor in Copeland Borough Council area, which takes place on Thursday 22 May 2014 on the same day as the European Elections ballot, will lead to a waste of tax payer’s money.
The GMB said it considers that the level of responsibilities for a small council area like Copeland simply does not justify the tax payer’s money involved.
Chris Jukes, GMB Northern Region Political Officer, said: ‘There are those in Copeland, mainly disaffected people who believe in democracy on their terms, who just want to use and abuse tax payer’s money for their own ends.
‘The level of responsibilities for a small council area like Copeland simply does not justify the tax payer’s money involved. For people who for their own ends want to be a big fish in a small pond, and who want to take tens of thousands of pounds for what is a bauble, is a disgrace.
‘These self-appointed local demagogues believe in democracy only if it is them in charge. The people of Copeland Borough are sleepwalking to disaster, as many in outlying areas away from main conurbations like Whitehaven think it does not affect them, when in reality it will, as all council tax payers and businesses will have to pay up.’