Show caption The move by Len McCluskey follows calls by blacklisted workers to set up an independent inquiry into the alleged collusion. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters Unite Unite asks barrister to examine worker blacklisting collusion claims Union chief Len McCluskey instructs barrister to compile report on claims that officials passed information to blacklisters Rob Evans @robevansgdn Tue 29 Aug 2017 07.17 EDT Share on Facebook

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Britain’s biggest trade union has commissioned a barrister to examine allegations that union officials colluded with a covert blacklisting operation financed by major firms to prevent certain workers from being employed.

The move has been ordered by the head of Unite, Len McCluskey, and follows calls by blacklisted workers to set up an independent inquiry into the claims of collusion, which is alleged to have spanned at least 20 years to 2009.

The barrister is to scrutinise documents that were disclosed in a high court lawsuit that led to construction firms apologising and paying compensation amounting to around £75m to 771 blacklisted workers.

Some documents appeared to show that trade union officials had passed information to the blacklisters, including private warnings not to hire specific workers they deemed to be politically awkward. Individual workers were labelled “militant” or a “troublemaker” by union officials, according to the files.

In signed statements, managers who ran the blacklist alleged that union officials wanted to prevent disruption on industrial sites and helped to deny jobs to some of their own members.



In an internal letter to colleagues, McCluskey, Unite’s general secretary, said: “There have recently been calls for us to consider all documents in the high court litigation to see if there is any evidence of officer collusion in blacklisting. I have committed to undertaking that review.”

He added that he had instructed an unnamed barrister from Doughty Street Chambers, a London firm specialising in human rights, to review the documents and compile a report. “If there is any evidence arising from the documents, it will be acted upon,” he said.

The documents disclosed during the high court case detail how more than 40 construction firms stored confidential files on more than 3,200 workers, recording their political and employment histories.

Managers consulted the files and denied work to individuals, often for long periods, whom they considered to be active trade unionists or troublemakers. The workers, some of whom campaigned for improved health and safety on construction sites, were not told why they had been refused work.

The blacklisting operation, which drew on files going back to the 1970s, was declared to be unlawful following a raid in 2009 by a watchdog, the information commissioner.

More than 40 blacklisted workers have pressed for an inquiry as they believe the allegations amount to a “running sore” for the trade union movement.

Dave Smith, their spokesman, said: ”This announcement is a welcome first step at the beginning of the process. I have already seen many of the documents and the report will undoubtedly find that there is some evidence of potential collusion.”

“The question is how much weight you give to the documentary evidence, which is precisely why we will need an independent investigation, which hears from both the officials and the blacklisted union members.”

Alan Wainwright, a former construction industry manager who helped blow the whistle on the blacklisting, has been highlighting the alleged collusion for more than a decade. “I have been ignored. This latest step goes absolutely nowhere near enough for what needs to happen,” he said.

In the legal documents, Dudley Barratt, a manager involved in running the blacklist, said officials in a number of trade unions would “occasionally tell me names of individuals who they thought should not be employed on sites” as they might undermine the firm and the official trade union activities.

Another manager, Daniel O’Sullivan, said union officials passed on information about individuals as they were “concerned to prevent unnecessary disruption on site”. Some of the allegations relate to previous trade unions that have been absorbed into Unite.

Many of the blacklisted workers won compensation last year after their legal action was funded by Unite and other unions. Unite is currently backing 70 more workers who are taking legal action.

