We republish in full (see below), a recent statement from the Blacklist Support Group, who have been campaigning on this issue for many years.
Blacklisting is the illegal practice of keeping information on employees or potential employees regarding their trade union or wider political activity and circulating that information around employers so that they can refuse employment and destroy the careers of active trade unionists or socialists.
It goes without saying that any trade union official that colluded in any way with such practices would be an utter traitor to the movement – yet, incredibly, some information seemed to point in that direction. That is why the Independent Inquiry was set up by Unite the Union.
As the Independent Inquiry itself explained:
“In May 2016, a number of trade unions including Unite the Union, GMB and also construction workers campaigning through the Blacklist Support Group secured a historic settlement in the High Court.“
As part of the settlement, workers won pay-outs totalling £75m after they discovered that construction firms had unlawfully compiled confidential files on their political and employment activities, preventing them from securing jobs in the sector.
“Construction firms including Sir Robert McAlpine and Balfour Beatty, paid compensation, and issued an “unreserved and sincere” apology, to the blacklisted workers.
Collusion by Trade Union Officials?
During the High Court litigation, documents were disclosed and media reports appeared that suggested that some union officials had been aware of, and may have colluded with the blacklisting of their own members.“
In April 2022, Unite the Union established an independent inquiry into allegations of collusion between trade union officials and the construction industry bosses that contributed to the blacklisting of construction workers. In response Unite the Union has instructed a legal team to examine, investigate and to report on whether or not trade union officers within Unite the Union (including those that merged into the union, primarily TGWU; UCATT and Amicus) had been involved in blacklisting in any way.”
[Quote from the Independent Blacklisting Collusion Inquiry – see here]
During the ongoing election in Unite for the post of General Secretary, the Inquiry has become an issue, which has prompted the Blacklist Support Group to issue the statement below, taken from their social media.
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‘NO COVER UP OF UNION COLLUSION IN BLACKLISTING
Blacklist Support Group Statement on the Independent Blacklisting Collusion Inquiry
Blacklisted workers are concerned about a potential ‘cover up’ of union involvement in blacklisting. The Blacklist Support Group call for union officials involved in blacklisting union members to be publicly named and shamed – irrespective of who wins the UNITE the union General Secretary election.
This statement is a response to the current flood of inquiries about the ongoing Independent Blacklisting Collusion Inquiry. The KC led investigation was set up by Sharon Graham in 2021 to investigate allegations of union officials colluding with major employers to blacklist union members. The inquiry was set up after more than a decade of campaigning by union members who were blacklisted by the UK’s major construction employers – and who read the names of some union officials recorded as the source of the information on their blacklist files.
The Inquiry lawyers – Nick Randall KC, John Townsend and Paul Heron – have taken oral evidence, statements and collated documentary evidence from over 100 witnesses. The inquiry has also carried out a forensic search of UNITE (and its predecessor unions) electronic databases.
In 2025, Nick Randall spoke at UNITE Policy conference, telling delegates that:
“we have been chosen for our independence, and we have had absolutely no interference whatsoever from the union…
… based on the terms of reference set out by the union, we are looking at whether past or present officers or officials of the union UNITE, colluded in blacklisting in the construction industry… not limited only to obvious direct collusion but also to the suppression of information about the operation of such blacklists by union officials”
Randall ended by telling the conference that he was confident that the report would be finished within a few months. It is now a whole year since that statement.
We have been told that the report should be finished soon, but further information has come to light which means that Randall’s hopeful deadline was not achievable. The inquiry lawyers assure us that they are making every effort to resolve the issues arising from that information as soon as possible, but have emphasised that, given its importance, they must investigate this line of inquiry prior to completing the report.
As part of the inquiry, an ‘Oversight Committee’ was established compromising of Dave Smith, Frank Morris and Tony Seaman (all of whom have been blacklisted for their union activities). The purpose of the oversight committee was to ensure that the inquiry remained independent from the union, and to assist the inquiry lawyers where necessary, such as identifying potential witnesses. The oversight committee added the following comments to the BSG statement:
“For the past five years we have refrained from making public comments about the collusion inquiry. This was at the direct request of the lawyers who felt any remarks by us could hamper their ongoing investigations. Keeping quiet about the inquiry has not come easy to us. We have repeatedly voiced our frustrations to the lawyers in private – when our natural inclination has been to shout our concerns to the rooftops – but we have kept faith in the lawyers’ honesty and professionalism. However, in the past few weeks rumours have been circulating on social media that demand a definitive statement from the Oversight Committee and the Blacklist Support Group.
We understand that the evidence the inquiry has received is not limited to entries on the Economic League and Consulting Association blacklists, but also includes documentary evidence and witness testimony of unacceptable practices that existed within the construction industry over decades. When the inquiry completes its report, if substantial evidence exists that union officers and some union officials colluded in blacklisting their own members, practices that should have no place in any independent democratic trade union, we would expect that any union member with the best interests of trade unionism at heart will want to expose any such wrongdoing or corruption.
We are therefore calling on all candidates in the UNITE general secretary election, and all those actively campaigning for them, to unconditionally pledge to publish the Independent Blacklisting Collusion Inquiry report in full, and where there is robust evidence of wrongdoing, those union officers or officials should be named and shamed. The findings and recommendations should be made public and acted on by the union: so that the stain of union collusion in blacklisting can be finally wiped clean.
We are not calling for a witch hunt – where there is no evidence of wrongdoing, officials should be exonerated and be able to hold their heads high. We should all strive for natural justice – but blacklisted workers have been waiting too long for justice”.
END
[Featured image from the website of the Independent Blacklisting Collusion Inquiry]
