Wednesday 4 February 2015

Response from mayor re Blacklisting

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MEMBER FORUM – 20 JANUARY 2015 GRN. QUESTION 6
Question(s) to the Mayor from Councillor Fodor
Subject: BLACKLISTING

Could the mayor please say what actions have been taken to implement the
'Blacklisting motion (shown below) agreed by full council on 10th September
2013?
City Council is deeply concerned by revelations that major companies have been involved in
blacklisting in order to deny employment to workers who have engaged in trade union
activity, such as reporting breaches of health and safety regulations.
The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) found that a blacklist of over 3,200 construction
workers was maintained, and their personal details traded for profit. This blacklist was used
by over 40 companies and included information about workers personal relationships, trade
union activity and employment history.
Many of the workers who were blacklisted for reporting breaches of health and safety work in
the construction industry which employs 5% of all workers in Britain but produces 22% of
fatal injuries.
The ICO list of companies which used the blacklist service includes companies contracted
by Bristol City Council. The use of such blacklists is unacceptable and cannot be condoned,
having a potentially negative impact on the employment rights of Bristol’s 8,000+
construction workers.
Several local authorities across the country have passed resolutions to refuse to accept
tenders for publicly funded contracts from companies that use blacklisting. It is time that
Bristol joined them.
This Council resolves, wherever lawful to do so to:
- exclude companies involved in blacklisting of workers from securing future Council
contracts.
- require companies tendering for contracts to demonstrate that they are not using blacklists.
- require that companies that tender for Council contracts demonstrate that they have
processes in place to encourage the reporting by workers of workplace concerns, particularly
in respect of health, safety and welfare.
- seek, where this can be done without financial or legal penalty, to terminate contracts
where companies are found to be using blacklists.
- examine existing contracts with any of the companies listed by the ICO and ask for
reassurances that the company uses no form of blacklisting to inform their employment
decisions.

Reply:
Since the Blacklisting’ motion of the 10th September 2013 the Council has introduce a
vetting process in all appropriate procurement projects at the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire stage ensuring that companies tendering for Council contracts demonstrate that they are not using blacklists.


In addition, a termination clause is incorporated into appropriate contracts to allow the
Council to cancel the contract if it is discovered that a company is or has used a blacklist.

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