A high court judge agreed yesterday (10 July) that cases made by blacklisting victims could be heard together under a so-called Group Litigation Order (GLO). The next court date has been provisionally set for October and there will be a further hearing in December.
Hugh Tomlinson QC of Matrix Chambers – acting on behalf of the original blacklisting claim brought on behalf of 79 workers by solicitor Guney, Clark & Ryan – was joined at a hearing in the Royal Courts of Justice today by barristers acting for three other newer claims of a similar nature brought by three separate trade unions – the GMB, Ucatt and Unite – on behalf of their members who allege they were blacklisted. All four are compensation claims made against major contractors which employed the services of blacklisting firm The Consulting Association (TCA) until it was raided and closed down in 2009.
The cases will be managed by a steering committee, comprising the solicitors acting for UCATT, Unite and the GMB and the Blacklist Support Group, which have all brought forward cases.
Steve Murphy, general secretary of UCATT, said: “Today was a green light in the battle for blacklisting justice. Over five years after the scandal was first revealed blacklisted victims are beginning to see justice in action. The companies involved in ruining workers lives are going to be forced to answer for their actions.”
It was also agreed that the names and addresses of blacklisted workers will not be made publicly available and will be kept in a sealed enveloped which the Judge has control over. Therefore the blacklisting companies will not be given access to the names and addresses of their victims.
Murphy added: “It was absolutely essential that companies involved in blacklisting aren’t given the details of their victims and we welcome the decision that this information will not be made publicly available.”
The case is expected to go to trial towards the end of the year.
Steve Acheson, lead claimant in the High Court trial and chairman of the Blacklist Support Group, said the blacklisted workers bringing the action were “absolutely over the moon” at the outcome of the hearing, Building magazine reported. “We’re completely overjoyed,” he added.
Contractor Sir Robert McAlpine has named 34 other construction firms as co-defendants to the action, including nine major contractors: Balfour Beatty; Bam; Carillion; Costain; Laing O’Rourke; Kier; Skanska; Vinci; and Amec.
The claimants accuse the firms of unlawful conspiracy, defamation, human rights violations and breaches of the Data Protection Act.
There are currently just over 100 claimants in the High Court but if the GLO is granted, unions say hundreds could be added immediately.
Eight of the main contractors facing the court action last week launched a new compensation scheme for workers affected by blacklisting, which was criticised by unions for being launched without their backing.
