Unite builds membership in construction industry

The Amicus section of general union Unite has launched a major organising drive among construction workers in London and the South East.

The union – which represents skilled construction workers such as scaffolders, heating and ventilating engineers and crane drivers – says the huge potential for recruitment within the industry became clear earlier this year, when a lobby of Parliament over tax problems attracted 2,000 workers.

“We have picked more than 4,000 construction members since January,– Unite organiser Guy Langston told Workplace Report.

The region is currently experiencing huge demand for these workers as a result of major construction and infrastructure projects such as Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5, the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Southampton and a major power station in Slough. And this demand will grow further with the huge transport and regeneration projects in London linked to the 2012 Olympics.

One of the main targets for recruitment will be migrant workers, and Langston says there are a “lot of problems with the employment of foreign workers who are not being properly trained in health and safety.– Unite believes that many are also being exploited with very poor pay and conditions.

The union is looking to enforce collective bargaining agreements reached by the national Joint Industry Board – which allow it onto the sites of employers signed up to the scheme – and is encouraging workers to become union reps as well as recruiting them into membership.