Areyou oneof the3,200 onthe blacklist? - BWI

Obituaries
Letters
DAVID VAUGHAN
David Vaughan was born on
18 May 1956. From that
moment he spent the rest of
his life fighting for his life as
he was born with an incurable
illness that affected his
kidneys. As David got older,
his illness got progressively
worse. It manifested itself by
affecting his lungs, heart and
blood. If this was not
enough, David was diagnosed
with cancer, which he
overcame.
Despite all of this, David
did not complain and
accepted his fate. He also had
an unstoppable belief in the
trade union movement. It
was through this that I met
him and we became lifelong
friends, which spanned 25
years or more. David was a
member of the National
League of the Blind and Disabled.
He was then a delegate
to the Eastern Region of the
TUC at the same time that I
was representing UCATT.
Up to his death David was
involved with the Co-operative
Party and acted on a voluntary
basis as the local
party secretary.
He had also undertaken
voluntary work with Age
Concern and from his
account made a monthly
direct debit payment to an
JACK AVERY
It is with sadness that I report
the death of Jack Avery at the
age of 91. Jack was the Branch
Treasurer for many years and
● Jack Avery
(centre), with his
wife, Margaret,
receives flowers
from Bishop
Auckland Branch
President Ray
Mulchfield
shortly before
his death.
organisation that helps
homeless people.
In 1985, David was
appointed to the Industrial
Tribunal Panel. While serving
on the panel, he became very
well respected for his willingness
to undertake multi-day
tribunals and for his knowledge
of disability issues.
David approached me during
the end of 1997 and
asked if he could become a
member of UCATT as he
wished to become more
involved with trade unions. I
of course was more than
pleased to enrol David as a
member. A year or two later
he was elected by the branch
to undertake the duties of
Branch President. He
attended two UCATT
National Delegate Conferences
and one TUC congress
in Brighton.
During the last year or so
of his life, David had to carry
his own supply of oxygen
and was also on morphine.
Despite this he still insisted
on travelling from Norwich
to Stratford to perform his
duties at the tribunal centre.
He leaves behind a legacy
of tireless work for the disadvantaged
and was always
ready to assist anyone with
any type of problem.
K Trudgill
Norwich 1st Branch Secretary
only recently had to step
down because of the deterioration
of his health.
GS Lambert
Bishop Auckland Branch
Secretary
UCATT man takes on Tories,
LibDems, BNP –and wins
Lincoln was once proud to be a
Labour-controlled council year after
year. Now the Tories are in control, but
only just.
Lincolnshire County Council elections
took place on 4 June. Labour had
14 seats in the county before the election,
but on the night seat after seat
fell. Labour lost all
but three of their
seats, though thankfully
none to the
BNP. The seats
were mainly lost
to the Tories.
Kev Clarke, who
is UCATT General
Council member
for the Midlands
and also Lincoln
1st Branch Secretary,
decided to
Kev Clarke. stand in his local
division against the
current councillor, who decided her seat
was safer under the flag of the Tories.
Also stan ding were the Lib Dems and
the BNP.
The campaign was hard and no-one
outside the area gave Kev a hope in
hell. National trends suggested a complete
Tory victory. Against the odds
and trends Kev regained the seat from
the Tories and is the only new Labour
seat in the whole county.
SCOTT WALKER
Lincoln 1st Branch
How to beat the blacklist
The article on blacklisting (summer
issue) revealed Skanska’s insatiable
appetite for the blacklist – £3,000
annual subscription to the Consulting
Association and £28,122 on 12,783
checks on the blacklist in 2008.
Contrast this almost fetish-like
behaviour with the report (New Year
2005 issue) which portrayed Skanska’s
commitment to “best practice” in
working with UCATT to promote and
develop trained and competent safety
representatives. No doubt the 29
UCATT reps mentioned went on to
receive accreditation, establishing
their qualifications as safety reps.
In the light of recent disclosures
concerning Skanska’s activities – those
29 reps will probably have received,
unknowingly, other credentials of a
somewhat clandestine nature. I would
advise them all – if they haven’t
already done so – to contact the Information
Commissioner, who will confirm
if they have been blacklisted.
Skanska’s promise to abstain from
blacklisting, after being exposed as a
blacklist junkie, is as reassuring as a
promise from BNP leader Nick Griffin
to an immigrant that the ship he’s on
is perfectly seaworthy. We should be
under no illusions – blacklisting will
continue, despite employers’ assurances
to the contrary.
Government legislation to outlaw
the practice is long overdue and would
be welcomed. However, to effectively
challenge and defeat the blacklist will
require strong, traditional site organisation,
with workers equipped to
defend, promote and progress their
collective interests at site level.
Nationally, there is a growing sense of
militancy on an industrial level, with
workers showing their determination
to fight back, for example at Lyndsey,
Visteon, Vestas etc.
UCATT must be part of this development
and we can best participate
via strong site organisations. We must
waste no opportunity to move in this
direction.
TERRY BROUGH
St Helens Branch
We won council house ballot too
I refer to the article on South Cambridgeshire
(summer issue) in relation
to the Defend Council Housing campaign
and the vote by tenants against
being transferred to new, non-council
landlords. Congratulations to the
campaigners there.
The campaign in Kingston-upon-
Thames has also recently notched up a
success, which follows on from two
previous successes, the last one being
in 2004 when 62 per cent of tenants
and leaseholders voted to stay with
the council. This time the council
spent in excess of £100,000 on a consultancy
exercise which advised that
the vote, if taken, would be to stay
with the council.
The Defend Council Housing
(DCH) campaign in Kingston swung
into action as soon as the council
announced the appointment of consultants,
using the DCH newsletter
plus local leaflets in a mail-shot. The
late Alan Walter spoke at a central
meeting attended by all interested parties
and made an excellent case for our
cause.
Let’s see now if the Government
will back up its fine words and allow
councils to build again.
GEOFF COLEMAN
Wimbledon & Raynes Park Branch
22 ●UCATT Building Worker ●Autumn 2009