Construction firms to pay out over worker blacklist

Major construction companies are to compensate workers whose names were on a secret industry blacklist.

It follows years of union campaigning after it was discovered that more than 3,200 names, mainly of building workers, were kept on the list drawn up by The Consulting Association. Workers involved claimed they were denied work, often for merely raising legitimate concerns about health and safety on building sites.

Legal action is being taken on behalf of some of those on the list.

Eight firms announced they are working together to develop a scheme to compensate construction workers who were on the TCA database.

A statement said: “The companies — Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and VINCI PLC — all apologise for their involvement with TCA and the impact that its database may have had on any individual construction worker.” Campaigners welcomed the news, although some said more should be done.

Justin Bowden, of the GMB union, said: “Firms admitting they engaged in a terrible abuse of the civil rights of thousands of UK workers is an important step. The next step is to clean up and pay up.”