BAM intimidates UCATT members on V and A Dundee site
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UCATT have castigated the wall of silence received from major contractor Bam over workplace intimidation, bullying and the threat of blacklisting on a major public project.
UCATT officials undertaking a scheduled visit in September were met with a barrage of anti-union abuse at the public funded Victoria and Albert Museum project in Dundee. Managers from sub-contractors working for blacklisting contractor BAM hurled anti-union abuse at UCATT officials and told workers to stay away from the canteen while the union was on site. Workers suffered intimidation by managers, threatening and shouting ‘don’t talk to them, get back to work.’
UCATT wrote to BAM management to complain about the aggressive behaviour of sub-contractor managers, giving the company the opportunity to privately resolve these matters but BAM failed to even acknowledge the correspondence.
The Scottish Government has already come under fire for awarding the contract to BAM, a contractor which was part of the blacklisting conspiracy. UCATT says this is clear evidence that the construction industry has palpably failed to heed the warning of the blacklisting legal case victory and persists with blatant anti-union activities.
Steve Dillon, Regional Secretary for UCATT Scotland, said: “We will be back on site and won’t let this issue drop till we’ve solved it. BAM is perpetuating a culture of fear and loathing. It is trying to stop workers joining a union to protect their rights. We are not going to stand idly by and allow the anti-union attitude of construction contractors who are benefiting directly from the public purse.”
Mr Dillon added: “Every measure will be taken to defend our right to represent construction workers. We will name, shame and expose these attitudes wherever we find them. And we will immediately engage with the Scottish Government – which is the client for this project – to seek the exclusion of contractors from this site who participate in the effective blacklisting of trade unions.”
