In excess of £10 million (€12.6 million) is set to be paid out to 256 workers in an agreement reached on 09 May between the Unite union and various construction companies, finally putting an end to the blacklist scandal that has rocked the British construction industry since 2009 (c.f. article No. 7844). The industry’s big players were found wanting, including Carillion, Balfour Beatty, Costain, Kier, Laing O'Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK, and Vinci, all accused of having implemented specific listings that allowed them to discriminate between workers and keep workers out of jobs based on their political opinion, skills, and above all their union activities.
The agreement reached with Unite is generally seen as groundbreaking and definitively closes a case file that includes deals struck with the GMB and Ucatt unions on 29 April, the details of which were unveiled on Monday 09 May. Ucatt received £8.9 million (€11.2 million) for 156 workers and the 116 complainants with the GMB union pocketed £5.4 million (€6.8 million). Each worker will receive between £25,000 and £200, 000 (€31,600 and €253,000). According to the GMB’s calculations, all told the
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