Surveillance of trade unionists and blacklisting


Recent cases show that surveillance of workers goes beyond the matter of employers monitoring how workers are performing their jobs and extends to monitoring of trade union activities. A number of reps in the LRD survey reported cases of employers monitoring emails by trade union reps at the workplace, or were suspicious that this was the case. However, surveillance of trade union activity has also taken place on an industry-wide scale and with the collusion of the state. 


An investigation by the ICO in 2009 uncovered a mass surveillance operation of over 3,200 construction workers — overwhelmingly trade unionists — and environmental activists, with many ending up on a secret blacklist maintained by a business known as The Consulting Association. The information was built up over decades, and secretly shared among 44 of the largest construction employers in the UK. Those named on the list were denied work for years, and many workers lost their livelihoods as a result. 


Following this revelation, anti-blacklisting laws, the Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010 (the Blacklist Regulations), were enacted in March 2010. These are discussed in Chapter 7. 


A group of blacklisted workers known as the Blacklist Support Group (BSG) are fighting a highly effective campaign to put blacklisting firmly on the political agenda, using a combination of direct action, campaigning, litigation at a national, European and international level, political persuasion, including effective use of the cross-party select committee system and cooperation between unions. 


A case being brought by hundreds of blacklisted workers, backed by the GMB general union, construction workers’ union UCATT, Unite and the BSG will reach the High Court in May 2016, following a series of preliminary hearings that have already taken place.


In a hearing in 2015, eight high-profile building companies offered an "unreserved apology" for their part in operating the system, accepting that their actions had consequences for certain workers in terms of lost work opportunities or refusals to work and that this had an impact on their personal lives. They also acknowledged that the vetting information was collated and used in secret without the workers concerned having any opportunity to correct or challenge its content. However, UCATT said that the High Court case will continue as the companies still will not accept the significant loss of earnings that the victims of blacklisting suffered.


The ICO has also suggested that much of the information found in the files of the Consulting Association, which compiled the blacklist, could only have been supplied by the police or security services (see Chapter 7). UCATT has revealed that a police officer from the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), infiltrated the union during the 1990s and spied on union activists. 


Another former undercover police officer has apologised for spying on activists from public services union UNISON, the FBU firefighters’ union, the CWU communications workers’ union, the NUT teachers’ union and the National Union of Students. He released a statement at the parliamentary launch of Blacklisted — the secret war between big business and union activists, by blacklisted engineer Dave Smith and journalist Phil Chamberlain (published in December 2014). This book gives the full story of how construction companies kept union activists from working in the industry. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has conceded evidence of probable police collaboration with the blacklisters examined in the book. 


The NUJ journalists’ union has also complained about police surveillance of its members on a number of occasions. In 2014, it announced it was taking legal action against the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and the home secretary to challenge the ongoing police surveillance of six NUJ members for lawful journalistic and union activities. The journalists had all worked on media reports exposing corporate and state misconduct and they have each also previously pursued litigation or complaints arising from police misconduct. 


In July 2015, home secretary Theresa May announced the scope of an inquiry by Lord Justice Pitchford into undercover policing of political and social justice campaigners. Unions are demanding that the inquiry also covers the blacklisting issue. 


There is more detailed information about the anti-blacklisting campaign available from the blog maintained by the Blacklist Support Group (BSG). Anyone who thinks they may be on a blacklist can contact the BSG for advice and support. Their blog and contact details can be found at: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog.