Blacklist Support Group update 18th Dec 2014 - High Court latest, parliamentary meeting and book announcement 1. High Court trial It was a very long day in the High Court bogged down in procedural arguments about disclosure of documents, methodology about calculating financial loss and legal timetables. Key points: - High Court judge, Justice Supperstone has been appointed to oversee the case. - The firms have until late January to disclose documentation they hold about their involvement in the Consulting Association. They had already been asked by the ICO and the Scottish Affairs Select Committee to do a search for such documents - so the task should be relatively easy. We await to see what they will provide. - The court was told that the first 131 claimants have a total schedule of loss in excess of £14 million, an average of £121,000. - The court was told if successful, that any final compensation payment would also include damages for defamation to character, hurt to feelings and human rights violations - which could potentially be higher than the loss of earnings - There are currently around 300 claimants in the case, with more joining the Group Litigation every day. - The next court date is set for Feb 13th February 2015 2. Blacklist Support Group parliamentary meeting Ian Davidson MP, chair of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee and John McDonnell MP addressed the parliamentary meeting. The BSG thanked and put on record their genuine appreciation for the work that both MPs and others on the Scottish Affairs Select Committee have played in highlighting the issue of blacklisting. - Ian Davidson MP said that the committee would be taking further evidence from witnesses and expect to produce a third report on the scandal by March 2015 which would be of interest to any local authorities wishing to bar blacklisting firms from public contracts. - Howard Beckett, UNITE Legal Director told the meeting that back in 2009-10, the Blacklist Support Group were the only people doing any real campaigning on the issue but the unions have now caught up. He called the compensation scheme a complete and utter whitewash. Commenting on the High Court he said the union wanted to see company directors forced to give evidence under oath. He suggested that the claimants legal teams, UNITE, GMB, UCATT and GCR solicitors should work together more closely to pool resources. - Justin Bowden, GMB National Officer told the meeting that the union would continue to expose the names of those responsible for blacklisting with its Crocodile Tears tour. He called the compensation scheme a cheap publicity stunt that no one should accept unless they are financial hardship and even then only after having got full legal advice from the lawyers. - Dave Smith told told the meeting that it was the involvement of the police that would be the crucial factor in winning a public inquiry. He named 5 police officers from different undercover police units that were involved in spying on trade union members on the Consulting Association blacklist. - John McDonnell MP summed up the meeting by telling people that the state had always infiltrated the union movement since its inception and that blacklisting is one of the biggest conspiracies against working people for a century - and we will prove it! He said the fact that the Labour Party was now committed to an inquiry of they win the election is a measure of the success the campaign has had. 3. Blacklisted book Phil Chamberlain and Dave Smith are pleased to announce that their book: *Blacklisted: the secret war between big business and union activists*, will finally be in the shops in March 2015 published by New Internationalist. The announcement was made on the twitter account @blacklistedbook and at the Blacklist Support Group meeting in parliament. Blacklisted is available in paperback and ebook versions. Available to pre-order now: newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/ *Blacklist Support Group* video: youtube/watch?v=JlCa8yQmZ70 blog: hazards.org/blacklistblog facebook: facebook/groups/blacklistSG/
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 16:37:18 +0000
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