on Wednesday 6 December, UNITE the Union and the Blacklist Support Group are planning a day of action to raise awareness of what they consider to be ongoing issues around blacklisting in the construction industry.

Blacklisting in short was a process in the construction industry of secretly vetting construction workers and denying them work based on various factors without the workers being informed this was taking place. The vetting focussed on things like union membership and political views amongst other things. The practice was unethical and resulted in numerous workers missing opportunities for employment without explanation.

On the day, they will be demanding:

· a full public inquiry into blacklisting in the industry;

· blacklisting to be made a criminal offence

· companies that have blacklisted in the past to be banned from all public contracts.

They are targeting certain construction companies that were heavily involved in the process which include Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska, Carillion, Balfour Beatty, Costain, Kier and Laing O’Rourke.

It is possible they will target sites where these companies are based or where they are currently working and the demonstration is planned nationwide.