Legal academic placed on employment blacklist

A law lecturer has said it was “chilling” to discover he was named on an employment blacklist, the Sunday Heraldreports.

Dr Nick McKerrell, 45, was told his name is on a secret dossier which is meant to keep trade unionists out of employment.

The scandal became public after it came to light that a company called Consulting Association compiled a list of trade unionists for building companies to check in order to block individuals from getting jobs in the sector.

The Information Commissioner raided the company in 2009, leading to its closure and the extent of the lists being revealed. Campaigners allege the firm colluded with Special Branch.

Dr McKerrell, who teaches at Glasgow Caledonian University and is a trade union rep for the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), said: “As an active EIS member and trade unionist in Higher Education I was broadly aware of the building blacklist and the guys who lost their livelihood in the building trade for trying to organise in their industry.

“The Blacklist Support Group have run an amazing campaign of information but never in a million years did I think I would be on it.”

“However when I contacted the Information Commissioner I was told that there was a name similar to mine on the list. A letter confirming it came this week.”

He added that the names in the dossier are colour coded: “It explains my name was typed in green as opposed to others that were in black, red or blue - there is no explanation why this is as files were destroyed by the organisation which held the data - the Consulting Association. All that is left is my name with no more information.”

In response to the question of why he thinks he was on the list, he said: “I am guessing I am on it for campaigning activity I carried out over 20 years ago against the Criminal Justice Act as a fresh faced law student. This was a major attack on civil liberties and human rights by the Tory government of John Major at the time - particularly targeting protestors and young people.

“We also joined up with the campaign against the M77 extension at the time - this would seem to be the only link to the building trade. One of our demos marched right up to the building site.

“I helped organise demonstrations of thousands with other people to defy the law in Glasgow city centre. We also picketed Conservative politicians and attended court hearings when charges were brought under the act.”

He continued: “This was in the era when the creation of the Scottish Parliament seemed a pipe dream and before the Human Rights Act was introduced to help people protect their civil liberties. But our campaign was a defence of basic rights which had broad popular support - to be put on a blacklist because of that does not make any sense to me.”

He also called for the Pitchford Inquiry, tasked with investigating undercover policing south of the border, to be extended to Scotland: “I support the campaign to bring the Inquiry to Scotland. The full involvement of the police in Scotland colluding with other state authorities to undermine peaceful and democratic political campaigns must be exposed. I hope this is on the agenda following this week’s elections.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Trades Union Congress said: “The STUC have always been aware that the information held by the Consulting Association went beyond using unlawfully held information to deny workers in the construction industry the right to earn a living to support them and their family.”