Call for construction industry 'blacklist' inquiry

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21155535

MPs will hear calls later for a full inquiry into claims of the blacklisting of workers on major public projects such as Crossrail and the Olympics.
The move follows disclosures about a database of 3,000 names used to vet workers in the construction sector for more than 15 years.
Labour will hold a Commons debate on the allegations.
The existence of the list was exposed by a raid by the Information Commissioner's Office in 2009.

This list included details ranging from employment history to trade union activity and other personal information. Campaigners claimed the list blighted lives by denying people employment.
The vast majority of those blacklisted are still not even aware that information was collated and repeatedly used against them. MPs will hear calls for that to change.

Tsk,tsk. I bet however no one will ever be charged for breaking any laws and the 'list' will still exist in one form or another with bo concerns about the DPA.

Originally Posted by Maggy J

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21155535





Tsk,tsk. I bet however no one will ever be charged for breaking any laws and the 'list' will still exist in one form or another with bo concerns about the DPA.

Every company i ever worked for has such a list ,always have had and always will .Bad subbies can cost companies millions ,they lose contracts for the main contractor ,they cost jobs and sometimes lives .If they are disruptive then contracts fall behind costing the jobs of other workers .With profit margins as tight as they are and penalties as big as they are then the las thing a contractor needs is bad subbies

[BenMcr]

Originally Posted by martyh

Every company i ever worked for has such a list ,always have had and always will .Bad subbies can cost companies millions ,they lose contracts for the main contractor ,they cost jobs and sometimes lives .If they are disruptive then contracts fall behind costing the jobs of other workers .With profit margins as tight as they are and penalties as big as they are then the las thing a contractor needs is bad subbies

Big difference between keeping a record of someone who can't do the job you hire them for, and keeping records of un-connected information

Originally Posted by martyh

Every company i ever worked for has such a list ,always have had and always will .Bad subbies can cost companies millions ,they lose contracts for the main contractor ,they cost jobs and sometimes lives .If they are disruptive then contracts fall behind costing the jobs of other workers .With profit margins as tight as they are and penalties as big as they are then the las thing a contractor needs is bad subbies

Maybe but they do/should have to have some respect for the law which was changed/updated in 2010..Just because it's happened in the past is no excuse especially as the list is more about union representation and health and safety challenges rather than poor workmanship and bad timekeeping.

Originally Posted by BenMcr

Big difference between keeping a record of someone who can't do the job you hire them for, and keeping records of un-connected information

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Maybe but they do/should have to have some respect for the law which was changed/updated in 2010..Just because it's happened in the past is no excuse especially as the list is more about union representation and health and safety challenges rather than poor workmanship and bad timekeeping.

No foreman or site agent wants a disruptive subbie on his site .Subbies don't get paid if they don't work or complete X amount of work ,the site itself doesn't get paid if phases aren't completed on time .A single disruptive subbie can bring a site down losing everyone jobs ,that's why there is very little union activity on sites ,it is not needed as the subbies usually* have the right to leave the site at any time and move on ,those that aren't subbies will sort any grievances out with their own employer be it the site or another company contracted in to do work

*It should be noted that employment on sites has changed a lot ,a lot of subbies are no longer subbies and work directly for the site and others work for other companies contracted to do the work only a very small % will be true subbies moving from site to site largely due to tax status changes making it much harder to retain a self employed status .

---------- Post added at 12:27 ---------- Previous post was at 12:18 ----------

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Maybe but they do/should have to have some respect for the law which was changed/updated in 2010..Just because it's happened in the past is no excuse especially as the list is more about union representation and health and safety challenges rather than poor workmanship and bad timekeeping.

The law has nothing to do with it ,it is another useless piece of legislation that is easily ignored and totally unneeded ,like the working time directive .A blacklist comes in various forms ,it is either a hard list on a database or simply knowledge kept in a foremans head and shared between other site foremen in the form of "i heard that joe bloggs is on your site ,i wouldn't have him back on my site after what he did ".
I was employed as a manager at a big window company a few years back and one of the first things given to me was a list of subbies who where not allowed to work for us either because they where no good at their job or they where disruptive in that they where always quoting rules and regulations and where more concerened with the letter of the law than doing their job