BLACKLISTING IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

That this House expresses its strong support for all those workers who are fighting the heinous blacklist operating against trades unionists in the construction industry and elsewhere; believes that workers who have been victimised by unscrupulous employers and have endured periods of unemployment as a result should be fully compensated and that those responsible for operating the blacklist should be open to prosecution for wilfully bringing about unwarranted hardship; notes that over 40 well-known companies such as Balfour Kilpatrick, Crown House, AMEC, Costain and Wimpy were using the services of Ian Kerr Associates to promote the blacklist in the building industry, exposed by the Information Commissioner; calls upon the Government to immediately enforce the Employment Relations Act of 1999 which made the blacklist unlawful; and believes that in the meantime companies found operating the blacklist should be banned from operating on the Olympic project or any other publicly-funded construction site in the UK.