WE MUST DELIVER JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF BLACKLISTING – LEONARD

December 8, 2017 by martinrooney2014 Leave a comment

The Scottish Government must deliver justice for victims of blacklisting, Richard Leonard said today.

The Scottish Labour leader addressed a rally of Unite the Union workers protesting outside Holyrood against the unfair practice which leaves people denied employment because of their political views.

He was joined by John Gavienas, a former construction worker who was blacklisted in the 1980s after speaking out in a minor dispute over undignified treatment of his fellow workers at an oil rig fabrication yard in Wester Ross. Mr Gavienas was unable to secure employment in the construction industry again.

Companies found to have used the practice were awarded Scottish Government contracts during Nicola Sturgeon’s time as Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and SNP MSPs also voted against Labour MSP Neil Findlay’s amendments in the last Parliament session to ban companies found to have used blacklisting from procuring public sector contracts.

Labour has pledged to deliver a full inquiry into the practice of the blacklisting of trade unionists in Scotland in its 2016 Holyrood manifesto.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said:
“Victims of blacklisting not only had their livelihoods robbed but their lives changed forever by a secret conspiracy of defamation.

“The unwillingness of the SNP, both in central and local government, to take action against companies found to have blacklisted, most of which continue to profit handsomely from taxpayer-funded contracts, is reprehensible.

“Nicola Sturgeon not only voted against our plans to ban blacklisters from procuring contracts but when she was Cabinet Minister for Infrastructure she handed out government contracts to companies who used this disgraceful practice.

“The truth is it isn’t enough to condemn blacklisting and do nothing about it. It is our duty as a Labour movement to challenge those in power and so win justice for all these working people who were wronged.”

Scottish Labour MSP Neil Findlay said:

“Blacklisting is still going on in Scotland and we need a full public inquiry to get to the bottom of this destructive practice that wrecks lives and victimises workers for seeking to do the right thing.

“Firms that blacklist are still being awarded public contracts by the Scottish Government and other public bodies. Scottish government procurement rules were supposed to stop this. They haven’t. This has to stop. Scottish Labour will not rest until blacklisting is history”

NOTES 

The text of Neil Findlay’s amendment is below (full report of the passage of the Procurement Reform Bill can be found here: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/largePDF/BBV_203.pdf)
Before section 22, insert—

<Exclusion of economic operators: blacklisting

(1) A contracting authority must exclude an economic operator from the process relating to
a regulated procurement if subsection (2) applies.

(2) This subsection applies if the contracting authority is satisfied that the economic
operator—

(a) has at any time compiled, used, sold or supplied a list (a “prohibited list”)
which—

(i) contains details of persons who are or have been members of trade unions,
or who are taking part or have taken part in the activities of trade unions,
and

(ii) is compiled with a view to being used by employers or employment
agencies for the purposes of discrimination in relation to the recruitment or
treatment of workers, and

(b) has not taken action which, in the opinion of the contracting authority, is sufficient
to remedy the effects of such compilation, use, sale or supply.

(3) Subsection (2) does not apply where it appears to the contracting authority that the
economic operator has compiled, used, sold or supplied a prohibited list in
circumstances which fall within a case set out in regulation 4 (exceptions to general
prohibition) of the Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010 (SI
2010/493) (“the 2010 Regulations”).

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2)(b), matters that the contracting
authority must take into account in determining whether remedial action is sufficient
include whether the economic operator has—

(a) publicly acknowledged that it has undertaken activities falling within subsection

(2)(a),

(b) apologised to those affected by such activities,

(c) subsequently employed persons affected by such activities, and

(d) paid to persons affected by such activities adequate compensation, negotiated with
representatives of such persons.

(5) In this section—
“employment agency” has the same meaning as in regulation 2(1) of the 2010
Regulations,
“discrimination” has the same meaning as in regulation 3(3) of the 2010
Regulations,
“use”, in relation to a list, includes use of information contained in the list.

(6) References in this section to membership of a trade union include references to—

(a) membership of a particular branch or section of a trade union, and

(b) membership of one of a number of particular branches or sections of a trade
union,

and references to taking part in the activities of a trade union have a corresponding
meaning.>