Crossrail has rejected claims made by the Unite union that blacklisting has taken place on the Crossrail project.

Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail chief executive said: “Crossrail Limited is not aware of, and has seen no evidence of, blacklisting of any kind in connection with the Crossrail project. If Unite has any evidence then we wish to see it; we have made this point a number of times and yet none has been forthcoming. Crossrail has written to the trades unions on several occasions setting out our commitment to taking firm, decisive and immediate action if any substantive evidence can be presented.

“All contractors working on the Crossrail project must comply with the Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010 which explicitly outlaws the blacklisting of construction workers. All our contractors are fully aware that blacklisting is unlawful as well as being a breach of contract which would result in immediate action by Crossrail.”

In a statement, Crossrail says the Consulting Association was closed down in 2009 following enforcement action by the Information Commissioner, well before the award of the first tunnelling and station contracts in December 2010.

Crossrail adds that it has asked for and received assurances from all its principal contractors providing confirmation that none have engaged in any blacklisting activity on Crossrail.

Construction workers on the Crossrail project are employed by the principal contractors and their supply chains, not by Crossrail Limited.

Crossrail also says it has put in place key requirements and expectations for contractors across a range of industry issues including industrial relations, direct employment (PAYE), and health and safety.

Over 7,000 people are now working on the Crossrail project and that number will increase rapidly over the next couple of years. Tens of thousands of further jobs are supported through the supply chain by regionally-based manufacturers and suppliers.

Europe’s largest ever single civil engineering project, Crossrail carries just as much risk as it does opportunity. in this feature, Trevor Morton gets to grips with its ERM approach to dealing with those risks.

READ FEATURE: GOING UNDERGROUND, CIR October 2012

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