European Tribune - Community, Politics & Progress.

LQD: Builders Blacklist

by ceebs
Fri Mar 6th, 2009 at 06:19:56 AM EST

The information comissioner today announced that he will be shutting down a firm run to blacklist union members from the building trades.

BBC NEWS | UK | Company sold workers' secret data

The information watchdog has shut down a company which it says sold workers' confidential data, including union activities, to building firms.
A raid on The Consulting Association in Droitwich, Worcs, revealed a serious breach of the Data Protection Act, the Information Commissioner's Office said.
The ICO said a secret system was run for over 15 years enabling employers to unlawfully vet job applicants.

Further from other sources, this is a long running story dating back to an industrial tribuneral in 2006

Data raid seizes 'blacklist' of 3,200 construction workers - Building

The existence of an M&E blacklist was first uncovered by Building in 2006 after Alan Wainwright, a regional resources manager at a large contractor within the sector, published allegations on the internet.
According to Wainwright, a blacklist of electricians was being circulated among leading M&E firms with the intention of ensuring that they were not employed.
Now, the row has resurfaced with allegations that Kerr, understood to be a retired special branches officer, was in the employ of various large contractors to vet potential workers.

and is not the first time an organisation like this has been alleged. Throughout the 1980's there was a similar group with close ties to the conservative party

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LQD: Builders Blacklist | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: LQD: Builders Blacklist (4.00 / 5)

Bit of a rush job as i'm just out the door.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Mar 6th, 2009 at 06:21:30 AM EST

Re: LQD: Builders Blacklist (4.00 / 5)

Union busting is a declaration of war. When all is said and done in this case, the bastards should be living under a bridge next to a kerosene fire and be happy that they weren't put into the kerosene fire. If they have a single tangible asset left after court proceedings, they've been let off too lightly.

- Jake

"Terraforming your own planet to make it uninhabitable hardly counts as epic win." - ThatBritGuy

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Fri Mar 6th, 2009 at 02:24:51 PM EST

Re: LQD: Builders Blacklist (4.00 / 2)

Police are targeting thousands of political campaigners in surveillance operations and storing their details on a database for at least seven years, an investigation by the Guardian can reveal.

 Activists "seen on a regular basis" as well as those deemed on the "periphery" of demonstrations are included on the police databases, regardless of whether they have been convicted or arrested.
* Names, political associations and photographs of protesters from across the political spectrum - from campaigners against the third runway at Heathrow to anti-war activists - are catalogued.
* Police forces are exchanging information about protesters stored on their intelligence systems, enabling officers from different forces to search which political events an individual has attended.

by Sassafras on Fri Mar 6th, 2009 at 04:15:04 PM EST

Re: LQD: Builders Blacklist (none / 1)

Let me guess, theres an exemption in the FOI Act that covers police intelegence gathering.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Mar 6th, 2009 at 07:11:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

LQD: Builders Blacklist | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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