PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
BLACKLISTED WORKERS (18 October 2012)

That this House believes in justice for blacklisted workers; notes that the 44 construction companies exposed as blacklisters by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) investigation of the Consulting Association escaped without penalty or punishment; is alarmed that in recent evidence to the Scottish Affairs Select Committee representatives of the ICO confirmed that they had seized only five to 10 per cent of files held by the Consulting Association; further believes that companies guilty of blacklisting must be barred from tendering for public procured contracts; is concerned that a recent court case revealed that the police and security services may have been complicit in the Consulting Association's activities and that blacklist records were kept on academics and journalists as well as thousands of construction workers; insists that the ICO notifies all persons listed on the Consulting Association blacklist files directly in the same way victims were notified in the phone hacking scandal; demands that compensation be paid retrospectively to all victims of blacklisting; calls for a public inquiry into the blacklisting scandal so that there can be no cover up; accepts that the existing blacklisting regulations offer no protection and are not fit for purpose and that it should be a criminal offence to supply, compile, solicit or use information in connection with a prohibited list; and further believes that the blacklisting of workers must no longer be part of our society.

Sponsored by:
Steve Rotheram (Labour)