Construction Blacklist

[Yahoorsur]

Dont think anything makes me more angry than this kind of nonsense,peoples lives ruined by secret lists and innuendo



FIRMS FACE LEGAL ACTION OVER 'BLACK LISTS'

An investigation by the Information Commissioner' s Office (ICO) has uncovered a database containing details on 3,213 construction workers, which was used by over 40 construction companies to vet individuals for employment.

Information Commissioner' s Office

The information commissioner, Richard Thomas, has published a list of the companies he believes may have broken data protection laws, after an investigation by his office that was sparked by fears that many workers were being unfairly "blacklisted" .The information includes sensitive personal information such as construction workers' personal relationships, trade union activity, as well as people's employment history.The information has been seized by the ICO during a raid in Droitwich, West Midlands.

Ian Kerr, the owner of a firm known as the Consulting Association, appears to have run the database for over 15 years.The ICO has uncovered evidence at Kerr's premises that named construction firms subscribed to Kerr's system for a £3,000 annual fee. Companies could add information to the system and pay £2.20 for details held on individuals. Invoices to construction firms for up to £7,500 were seized during the raid.

The ICO has served an Enforcement Notice ordering Mr Kerr to stop using the system. Mr Kerr is to cease trading by the end of this week and he now faces prosecution by the ICO for breaching the Data Protection Act.Deputy Information Commissioner, David Smith, said: "This is a serious breach of the Data Protection Act. Not only was personal information held on individuals without their knowledge or consent, but the very existence of the database was repeatedly denied."The covert system enabled Mr Kerr to unlawfully trade personal information on workers for many years helping the construction industry to vet prospective employees."Trading people's personal details in this way is unlawful and we are determined to stamp out this type of activity."He added: "The Data Protection Act clearly states that organisations must be open about how they process personal information, and in most cases those processing personal information must register with the ICO - Mr Kerr did not comply with the law on either count."We will prosecute Mr Kerr and we are also considering what regulatory action to take against construction firms who have been using the system."www.ico.gov. uk

These people need to be made an example of.

Jail 'em!!

[andy2007]

Sadly, this isn't anything new. It's just the method that's changed.

My Great Grandfather was blacklisted during The Great Unrest, and had to walk with his Family from Wales to Lancashire, to find work. Luckily: Any personal information stored electronically, is subject to The Data Protection Act. Which makes this particular blacklist illegal!

The worrying thing is, however: If they had stored that blacklist on paper, instead of Computer. Then there would be NOTHING illegal about it. Immoral, yes. But not illegal. But a paper based database that large, would be slow and cumbersome to use. That's where they went wrong (thank God!).

[Yahoorsur]

I'm really annoyed about this issue. What the f*ck gives employers the right to organise against employees in the form of blacklists? This is a political issue and the companies involved in this should be held up and targetted in the same way unions are held up and targetted by the Tories , today and in the last 30 years, as to interfering with the political process.
The link here provides detail of the culprits. This practice is absolutely outrageous and I find it astounding that Labour promised to deal with the blacklisting scandal pre 1997 election but have done f*ck all about it.

Hat tip to http://ian1961.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That says it so much better than I can.

[andy2007]

Try 100+ years! It's just that it's normally kept quiet. But you're quite right. We should be organising to fight against these blacklists.

[baldrick]

It''s disgusting. It's been going on for years, especially in the construction industry.
A really decent bloke and good trade unionist I knew, who was an electrician from
Swansea killed himself after becoming depressed, because he couldn't get work as
he was blacklisted.

[mailsort6]

Employees details being kept on a blacklist is disgusting. This needs investigating throughly. Laws should also be put in place to stop ex-employers decreasing a persons chance of getting a another job, due to the fact that they were or are trade unionists or trade union activists. We need trade unions to defend employees rights without them where would we be?

[DGP1]

I wonder if Royal Mail sell any of our personal details onto other companies

[axeman]

my belief is royal fail are holding such data and are only to keen to use it. the records they keep on everybody who's employed by them, how many times have you been in the office and countless manager have your details even those acting ....iv'e pulled them on quite a few occasions time our union at top level got a little intrested at the goings on within the management

[padraig1965]

I was working at petrochemical plant it was the same (THE BLACK LIST). At least the UNION was strong then.

[DGP1]

Sooner or later everyone will end up on a employment blacklist so who'll do the work then?

[baldrick]

The Engineering Employers Federation used a blacklist too.
An employer's front organisation the 'Economic League' used to organise
the blacklist, but after bad publicity, Data Protection laws and EU legislation,
it was left to private 'detective agencies' to do the dirty work.

[andy2007]

Sooner or later everyone will end up on a employment blacklist so who'll do the work then?

What makes you think that we aren't already on one?
They've been using blacklists for at least a Century, but they're normally kept secret. It's only because someone made the mistake of computerising their blacklist (thereby contravening the Data Protection Act), that it hit the headlines.

I'm sorry if I sound a little callous. But quite frankly, it wasn't a surprise to me. Just look at the other comments in this Thread. Most of us know someone who has been affected by blacklisting. Baldrick even knows one man, who killed himself, because he was blacklisted. Are you really saying that you didn't know that this was going on?

Having said that: Well done to whoever Blew the Whistle on this particular Blacklist! Normally, it's virtually impossible to find out where the blacklist is. So we can't do anything about it (no proof). If only other blacklists had been found to be on computer. So we could have them removed, and the culprits prosecuted. Still, there's time yet. With any luck, more will be found out.

[DGP1]

I'm sure I'm on some blacklist somewhere, along with all the regular posters on this site (and those of us who make things difficult in work).

[dvbuk55]

Sooner or later everyone will end up on a employment blacklist so who'll do the work then?

Well I can absolutely say it won't be me - and yes I admit it And you are definitely on a blacklist - in fact several I would imagine - I'll bet Mrs Disgruntled has you top of her list

[NWpostie]

The Engineering Employers Federation used a blacklist too.
An employer's front organisation the 'Economic League' used to organise
the blacklist, but after bad publicity, Data Protection laws and EU legislation,
it was left to private 'detective agencies' to do the dirty work.

I remember Paul Foot exposing them and causing a flap, many Employers tried to distance themselves from it, seems when one get sgut down anothe ropens up, we should stamp down on every new Blackisting organisation, wherever they are, its immoral and ruins peopels lives, Although David Davis is a Tory MP but his GrandFather wasn't and he was affected by the Blacklist as he was a Trade Unionist, which caused difficulties for his Family, he reognised the Immorality of it and is demanding the practice to be banned.

I never thought I would hear of a Tory doing that,

New link http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... klist.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;