Laing O’Rourke denies claims it blacklisted union members

One of Britain's biggest construction firms, Laing O'Rourke, founded by Irishman Ray O'Rourke, has rejected charges that it has blacklisted union members from a major Liverpool construction site and tolerated unacceptable numbers of accidents.

In a rare public intervention, the usually highly private company accused the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) of having made a series of “false accusations” about the Alder Hey hospital building project.

Last week, union wrote to a House of Commons committee, alleging it has been denied “normal access” to workers, while a lack of its safety representatives on site has contributed to recent accidents.

Furthermore, it alleged that Liverpool-based construction workers have been denied work at Alder Hey and forced to travel “100s of miles away from their homes” to other sites because they are union members.

Large numbers of construction workers at Alder Hey are hired from employment agencies, enjoying few labour rights, UCATT general secretary Steve Murphy told the Commons inquiry, which has been investigating blacklisting by construction firms in Britain.

'Broken limbs'
The union and the company disagree about the number, and severity of recent accidents on the site. The union claims that there have been five, which left "broken limbs and a worker who suffered a crushed pelvis".

The company says three occurred, though it insists none of them “were life-threatening or as severe as UCATT’s news release appeared to imply”, though each injury is regretted.

Defending the company, Laing O'Rourke chief executive Anna Stewart said it was "the largest direct employer in the construction industry" in Britain, where agency workers are increasingly common.

Saying it had read of the union’s “false accusations” with “much disappointment”, Ms Stewart said: “We feel compelled to reply to these falsehoods in detail to protect our good reputation.”

A “significant proportion” of Laing O’Rourke’s union-affiliated workforce are UCATT members and have their union membership fees deducted from their salaries on a weekly basis by the company, she said.

UCATT officials were offered on-site access to workers during inductions, but not later on, but this offer was not taken up, she said.