Sandy's story

Since the blacklisting scandal was uncovered in 2009, Unite the Union has waged a five-year fight against household construction names, such as Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd and Balfour Beatty Engineering Services, and some 30 other firms who were part of the conspiracy.

This has resulted in more than £10 million in compensation secured for 256 workers who were victims of the blacklist. 

Unite member and former electrician, Sandy MacPherson, was one of the thousands of workers affected by the scandal. Even as a qualified electrician he faced unemployment.

This affected his finances and his quality of life because of the stress and frustration of not being able to secure work, and not knowing why.

Unite has pledged to continue to close the net on blacklisting by actively exposing those companies and individuals involved, and supporting members who believe that they have been discriminated against for simply being a member of a trade union.

Watch Sandy talk about how he’s been affected by the blacklisting scandal: