Public enquiry call over police input into blacklist

Calls are growing for a public enquiry into blacklisting after claims that the police helped gather evidence on union activists for construction firms.

A report in The Guardian, based on the revelations of ex-police officer turned whistleblower Peter Francis, claims that information he gathered was supplied to The Consulting Association, which ran a blacklist of thousands of construction workers.

The Consulting Association’s blacklisting activities came to light in 2009 after the data watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office, seized its database of 3,213 construction workers and environmental activists, which was used by 44 building companies to avoid recruiting trade union and health and safety activists.

Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB general union, said these latest revelations were further evidence of police input to the blacklist.

“There is a clear need for a Leveson-style enquiry into blacklisting and the involvement of state forces in it,” he said.

He also said it should be a criminal offence for anyone to interfere with the civil rights of any worker to be represented by a trade union in their workplace.

“Under existing laws the employers and the police systematically interfered with these civil rights for decades with impunity,” Kenny said.

In June, the union lodged High Court claims seeking compensation for nearly 100 members blacklisted by construction employers.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/aug/18/police-activists-blacklisting-agency-alleged