黑洞社区

Earlier this month, a group of protesters from the GMB union gathered outside the Birmingham offices of the Big Lottery Fund to stage a demonstration against one of the organisation鈥檚 human resources staff.

In so doing, they were opening up a new front in their battle against construction industry blacklisting - something the sector itself continues to insist ended more than four years ago with the discovery and closure of notorious blacklisting firm, The Consulting Association (TCA).

The protesters, waving placards bearing the slogan 鈥淵ou鈥檝e more chance of being blacklisted than winning The Lottery鈥�, were highlighting the organisation鈥檚 employment of Dianne Hughes as deputy director of HR.

Hughes, a former senior HR professional at Carillion and its then M&E subsidiary Crown House, was named in evidence provided to the Scottish Affairs select committee - the group of MPs currently investigating blacklisting - by the former boss of TCA, Ian Kerr, who died in December last year.

In a hand-written list of what Kerr termed TCA鈥檚 鈥渃ompany main contacts鈥� provided to the committee by Kerr, Hughes鈥� name appears alongside 38 other named individuals.

While some of these HR managers have disputed this evidence and no further proof has emerged to support or challenge it, the inference that is being drawn by unions and other campaigners that prior to 2009, is that these individuals were involved with TCA by organising the sending of lists of prospective workers to the organisation for checking against its database of 3,200 named 鈥渢roublemakers鈥� and receiving back any matches (see box left on how the
TCA worked).

This helps explain the latest tactics of the GMB, which has been running a campaign to try to force the major construction firms that were associated with TCA to issue a full apology and compensate those affected.

As its national officer Justin Bowden said at the time of the protest against Hughes: 鈥淕MB is 鈥� calling to account all the managers and the human resources professionals who organised the whole thing for 20 years. That is the reason for this protest.鈥�

But what has happened to these people who, it is alleged, played such a role in blacklisting? An investigation carried out by 黑洞社区 of the 39 alleged TCA contacts named in Kerr鈥檚 written note has established that of those still known to be working, 78% remain in senior HR roles within construction while 61% are still working in HR at the same firms they were when, it is alleged, they interacted with TCA.

So does the analysis lend weight to union allegations that the practice could be continuing, or is the targeting of these individuals itself becoming a form of victimisation?

鈥業n denial鈥�

For anti-blacklisting campaigners and those who have taken up their cause in recent months, 黑洞社区鈥檚 analysis appears to support MP Nick Raynsford鈥檚 claim that the construction industry is 鈥渋n denial鈥� over the issue and contributes to the sense it is only paying lip service to public anger over the practice.

鈥淭his tells me that [the firms involved] are not in the least contrite about it,鈥� says blacklisted worker and leader of the Blacklist Support Group, Dave Smith. 鈥淭hey are simply sorry that they got caught. Many of these firms were [blacklisting] for decades and continually denied they were doing it. The fact that so many of these managers are still in place tells us everything.鈥�

The country鈥檚 largest union Unite - which, like the GMB, has been investigating the current activities of the HR managers named by Kerr - argues that the numbers of these people still employed at the firms they worked for when they are alleged to have interacted with TCA indicate blacklisting was sanctioned by these firms鈥� most senior bosses, who, the union believes, remain unrepentant today.

Some of the 鈥渕ain contacts鈥� in Kerr鈥檚 list themselves are today in extremely senior positions. Paul Raby for example, who is named on it as a main contact for Balfour Beatty鈥檚 then subsidiary Balfour Kilpatrick, is now Balfour Beatty Group鈥檚 director of HR with a seat on its executive board. A recent letter from Balfour Beatty鈥檚 non-executive directors published on the blog of blacklisting whistleblower Alan Wainwright, denies Raby was a TCA contact.

The fact that almost 80% of the 39 alleged TCA main contacts known to be working are still in the construction industry has also heightened fears that blacklisting is continuing. Quite apart from the idea that some of these people may recall the names of union activists or other supposed 鈥渢roublemakers鈥�, there remain suspicions that contractors might have kept their own versions of Kerr鈥檚 blacklist database at the time and that these may not have been destroyed since.

In his evidence to the Commons committee, Wainwright, a former labour manager at a number of firms, including Crown House, alleged that Carillion would make its own list of names to keep a record of which workers TCA was advising against employing - meaning that the company at one time effectively kept
a blacklist database itself. The claim is denied by Carillion.

For Unite鈥檚 assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail - whose union is engaged in a high-profile anti-blacklisting campaign against the 拢15bn Crossrail scheme, a project on which at least two of the HR managers named on Kerr鈥檚 list are known to have worked - the number of alleged TCA contacts still engaged with the industry鈥檚 big players reinforces the union鈥檚 suspicion that blacklisting is continuing on the huge London development.

She says: 鈥淯nite research suggests that 16 individuals named as blacklisters by TCA are currently employed by businesses that have contracts with Crossrail. This includes Kathy Almansoor, now employed as group employee relations manager by Kier [see box overleaf], which has been awarded several major Crossrail contracts through the BFK joint venture.鈥�

Cartmail鈥檚 remark underlines the association Unite is seeking to make between Kerr鈥檚 list of main contacts and blacklisting, an association being used to support its allegation that the practice continues on major projects.

A new blacklist?

Isn鈥檛 there a danger though that directly targeting these individuals could itself become a type of victimisation? After all, many believe that this behaviour, prior to 2009, reflected an entire culture within construction.

Susannah Clements, group HR director at Carillion, says her colleague Liz Keates - one of those named in Kerr鈥檚 list and under scrutiny by the GMB - was a junior manager when she joined the firm鈥檚 then subsidiary Crown House in 1998 and, uncomfortable with its use of TCA, put a stop to it back in 2004 after she was promoted to a more senior position.

Clements says this makes the unions鈥� targeting of Keates extremely unfair. 鈥淲e are appalled that a campaign to highlight TCA鈥檚 database has turned its focus to targeting individuals such as Liz who were quite junior at the time and who were not the decision makers,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e recognise that the industry faces a challenge to rebuild trust 禄 禄 with some of our key partners, but we believe that the answer lies in constructive dialogue.鈥�

This allegation of unfairness is sharply rejected by the GMB鈥檚 Justin Bowden, who describes it as hypocritical. 鈥淏lacklisting was patently unfair in every single respect and it is patently unfair that people have not received apologies or compensation,鈥� he says.

With the major contractors and the unions at loggerheads, it has been difficult up until now to imagine how this stand-off could be resolved. But a third party is now poised to shake things up by entering the fray.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is the world鈥檚 largest professional association for HR managers with 135,000 members. The organisation, 黑洞社区 can reveal, is now conducting an investigation into whether a number of its members 鈥渁lleged to have made use of TCA services鈥� breached its professional code of conduct in doing so.

The CIPD鈥檚 chief executive Peter Cheese also wants to start a debate on blacklisting with the construction industry and has been writing to HR managers in the sector to say so. 鈥淧eople in the HR industry are very concerned about this,鈥� he says. While Cheese emphasises he does not condone blacklisting, he points out that part of any HR manager鈥檚 job is to protect their organisation 鈥渇rom recruiting a bad apple鈥�.

鈥淲e need to be clearer ourselves on where we draw the line on some of these things,鈥� he says.

He鈥檚 going to have his work cut out.