Despite the city being full of fun for the Fringe and the Festival life goes on as normal. We found proof of this yesterday outside Standard Life’s offices on Lothian Road where UNITE were protesting about blacklisting of workers on the Crossrail project in London. They told us that in Seotember 2012 sub contractor EIS was removed tfrom the Crossrail project and 28 workers were made redundant.
The company had been employed by the consortium (BAM Ferrocial and Kier) to complete essential electrical work but the union says it has now become clear that it was not issues reated toperformance that led to the termination of the contract but something ‘more sinister’.
They believe that EIS and their workforce were dismissed as a result of trade union activities raising legitimate health and safety concerns. UNITE shop steward Frank Morris was banned from the site after raising concerns over dangerous cabling in tunnels. The managing director of EIS has signed a witness statement declaring his understanding that the contract was terminated due to trade union activity. UNITE believe that this amounts to blacklisting, by which they mean denying employment to Unionised workers raising legitimate safety concerns.
The Edinburgh Reporter spoke to Willie Thomson, an organiser from UNITE, to find out why they were protesting at Standard Life’s offices:-
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