UCATT Welcomes Anti-Blacklisting Regulations

Construction union UCATT have welcomed the publication by the Department of Business of the new regulations designed to outlaw the blacklisting of trade unionists.

Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of UCATT, said: "Blacklisting is a disgraceful, underhand practice. Until early this year most major construction companies were involved in the blacklisting of workers. The introductions of laws, which are designed to prevent blacklisting, are welcome and long overdue. Never again must the lives of workers and their families be ruined because of blacklisting."


The government's publication of the regulations follows a consultation exercise earlier this year. In its response to the consultation UCATT published a document Ruined Lives which argued that the regulations should be strengthened in order to ensure that all forms of blacklisting are eradicated.

Specifically, UCATT called for the regulations to be extended to cover all "activities associated with trade unions", that the discovery of a blacklist should result in it being automatically forfeited, maintaining a blacklist should be a specific criminal offence and being blacklisted should result in an automatic award for basic compensation.

The regulations need to be debated by both Houses of Parliament before becoming law. UCATT will explore with sympathetic backbench Labour MPs if the regulations can be strengthened when they are debated in the House of Commons.

(CD/KMcA)