Unions are pressing construction firms to make a
pledgenot to use blacklistsagainst
workers.
Blacklisted construction workers outside
Macclesfield Magistrates Court. From left to right: Tony Jones,
Howard Nolan, Steve Acheson, Graham Bowker and Sean
Keaveney
Yesterday, Ian Kerr from Stoke Heath, West Midlands,
pleaded guilty to breaking data protection laws by running a
covert database which held the details of more than 3,000
construction workers. Many of the country's biggest building firms
subscribed to Kerr's services. He will be sentenced at crown
court.
Alan Ritchie, general secretary of Ucatt, said, "Mr Kerr set out
to ruin construction workers' lives. He deserves the maximum
possible sentence."
The construction union has already won a
pledge from contractor Skanska that it will not use blacklists.
Officials are meeting representatives from other contractors to
wring similar pledges.
In particular, Ucatt wants to ensure that major public works
such as the
Olympic building programme are blacklist-free.