Great Britain: businesses that blacklisted “annoying” workers to set up a fund for the victims

Some of the biggest firms in the construction industry (Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O'Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and Vinc) are to compensate workers who were blacklisted, that is, prevented from gaining work or maintaining themselves in work as a result of victimisation for raising issues of health and safety or of workers’ rights. Some 3,200 workers have been identified as being likely to have been blacklisted, following a raid by the Information Commissioner's Office in 2009.  (Ref.  130607)
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The blacklist was uncovered following a raid by the Information Commissioner’s Office in 2009 on the offices of The Consulting Association (TCA, see article No. 130086) for data protection violations.

In a statement, the companies – Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and Vinci – said they all apologised ‘for their involvement with TCA and the impact that its database may have had on any individual construction worker.’ However, the companie

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