Blacklisting is the last resort of unscrupulous employers who continue to believe that it is cheaper to pay a company to protect their so called financial interest rather than build their company with the support of their best asset, their employees.

Blacklisting affected me and thousands of miners sacked during the miners strike along with many other workers who refused to cross the picket line, such as T&G drivers. We were regularly told that we would get a job, only to receive a letter a few days later from the head office saying we were unsuccessful. I continually sought work for two and a half years and finally got a job in a training scheme that paid £50 a week.

In 1999 the government included measures in the Employment Relations Act to make blacklisting illegal. Even though the Bill was passed it still required further regulations to bring the end to blacklisting. The government decided that there was no evidence that blacklisting took place and therefore never brought the regulation forward. We now must rectify that mistake.

Earlier this year the Information Commission discovered that a company called the Consulting Association had been advising 40 major employers in the construction sector about the record of potential employees. Those with records of trade union links were barred from jobs in the construction industry. The company also flagged up details about potential employees who raised safety concerns. 25% of all industrial deaths occur in the construction industry. Over the past 25 years 2,800 people have died on construction sites, with 72 fatal injuries in the past year. And yet these companies are still trying to stop people who raise concerns over safety from working in the construction industry.

The recklessness and indifference that some companies in the construction industry show for the welfare and conditions of their employees is scandalous. It is the desire for employers to duck and sway from their responsibilities that makes the need for strong and assertive trade unions so necessary. Trade unions are not a block on efficiency and they do not seek to cause conflict with employers. They protect the rights of their workers and help to improve safety in the construction industry. Given the human and economic cost of accidents in this sector I find it hard to understand why construction companies are not actively seeking the support of trade unions to improve safety. 

I have been proud to support the campaign against blacklisting. I believe that special praise must be given to Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) for the pressure they have brought to bear on the government. We have now received assurances from the government that legislation will be brought into affect in the autumn. Every worker has the right to protection and representation from a recognised trade union. The idea that they should be barred from employment because they seek to enact their right is abhorrent. It must and will end.