Labour Council recently passed the following motion to 'blacklist the blacklisters'. This text may act as an example of a successful motion that councillors across the country could be encouraged to pass in their own areas:

"A number of construction companies have been challenged about supporting the existence of and subscribing to construction industry ‘blacklists’, which detail covertly and potentially illegally gathered information on trade union members in the construction industry. Blacklisting is an unacceptable practice and cannot be condoned. The GMB union is leading a national campaign aimed at forcing those who have been involved in blacklisting to apologise and provide compensation to those who have found it impossible to work in construction as a result of this blacklisting."

"It is understood that the construction industry blacklist was collated by the Consulting Association (a private consultancy) and was then provided at a cost to construction companies as they sought to recruit/avoid new workers. The Information Commissioner has investigated and taken action against the Consulting Association for this practice. Furthermore, the Information Commissioner has taken enforcement action against a number of construction companies based on the evidence recovered from the Consulting Association."

"Owing to the concentration of construction activity in and around large cities, many of those alleged to have been discriminated against live in the country’s major cities, and undoubtedly this practice has disadvantaged residents of Kingston upon Hull."

"Given the potential impact on residents of this City, the Council resolves to support the GMB campaign and, where permitted by legislation, not include companies who have been identified as using this information on our approved suppliers list for all future."