It is the first contractor to formally acknowledge the presence of a blacklist, even though it denies having ever been party to it.
Dave Smith, 46 and from Essex, launched a legal action after seeing his income fall from 拢35,000 a year to 拢12,000 after being put on the blacklist run by the Consulting Association.
Mr Smith worked for John Mowlem at the time, which was subsequently acquired by Carillion. His case against Carillion is currently being heard at an employment tribunal in London.
The Morning Star newspaper reports that one entry in the register from July 1998 reads: "SMITH Dave - Described as small and talking like Alf Garnett. While at 3280 (Mowlem) gained access to sensitive safety documents and copied these to (construction union) UCATT... Was taken by 3280 via staff agency. Is well-in with UCATT executive council. At June Biennial Conference gave short talk: 'Now is time to get wages up.'"
The existence of the blacklist was confirmed in 2009 by information commissioner Richard Thomaswho named Balfour Beatty, Sir Robert McAlpine, Laing O'Rourke and Costain as among contractors that for years had been covertly purchasing details of workers' trade union activities and their conduct at work.
The 36-page document provided construction companies with personal and political details of union activists. More than 3,200 workers were logged, including Mr Smith.
Private investigator Ian Kerr, 66, was fined 拢5,000 for running the database, but no construction firm has been prosecuted for using it.
Although the records obtained by the information commissioner in February 2009 show that John Mowlem used the services of the Consulting Association to blacklist workers, Carillion said that it had no knowledge of the activities of Mowlem when it acquired the company in 2006.
Mr Smith had also once been dismissed by Schal, which was also later taken over by Carillion.聽
At the employment tribunal in London yesterday Carillion鈥檚 lawyers accepted that Smith had been blacklisted but denied legal responsibility.
At issue is an important point of law. As an agency worker, Mr Smith does not have the same rights as a direct employee. However, he is arguing that the blacklist breached Article 8 (right to privacy) and Article 11 (right to association) of the European Convention of Human Rights.
The hearing continues.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
