Parliament restoration — ban blacklist firms
A shadow cabinet minister has called for construction firms that have been involved in blacklisting to be banned from bidding for work on the £4 billion restoration and renewal of Parliament.
Speaking in the debate for the second reading of the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill 2017-19, which took place in the House of Commons, Labour MP Christian Matheson, a shadow Cabinet Office minister, said the project presented an opportunity to show Parliament was opposed to the practice.
Matheson told the Commons: “Sadly, blacklisting is still rife in the construction sector. There are experienced construction workers and others in associated trades who cannot find work today or who are given a job offer only to find it withdrawn without explanation a couple of days later.
"Blacklisting wrecks lives, careers and families and damages workplace health and safety. When McAlpine was given the Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben contract, it caused consternation because it had been up to its neck in blacklisting.”
He continued: “We must send out a clear message. This is a prestigious project and companies that have been involved in blacklisting construction workers will not be welcome to submit bids.
“I shall be pressing the simple case that any construction company that is found to be associated with blacklisting workers and has failed to accept their wrongdoing and compensate those workers for that treatment should be publicly excluded from bidding from these prestigious contracts.”