McAlpine faces blacklist action

Sir Robert McAlpine is facing a claim from a blacklisted bricklayer who believes he was turned-down for work by the company.

Mick Dooley - who is currently challenging to be the next general secretary of Ucatt - has lodged his claim with the Employment Tribunal.

It is believed to be the first legal action taken by a construction worker in the wake of the industry blacklisting scandal that erupted in March.

Dooley was one of the 3,213 workers contained in a blacklist compiled by the Consulting Association.

The Association's services were used by 40 of the industry's biggest contractors, who used the dossiers to discriminate against workers with a background of trade union activism.

Dooley has now read his 16-page file and believes McAlpine refused him a start on site because he was involved in a previous industrial dispute on one of its jobs.

He has lodged a claim with the Employment Tribunal's south London office. Tribunal officials will now decide whether Dooley's claim is within the allowed timeframe to proceed with a case.

Dooley said: "We stood up to bullying subcontractors and fought for decent wages and conditions when it was right to do so. I heard stories of a blacklist but it was a situation where either I accepted the unacceptable and keep my head down or said no. That's not right.

"I wanted to make sure that conditions were safe and wages were paid correctly so there is inevitably a conflict with some employers.

"It is the more sinister information contained on my blacklist that I am very angry about - information of a personal nature."

Sir Robert McAlpine was unavailable for comment.