Morning Star :: Blacklist fears a huge fuss over nothing says HR chief

Personnel expert makes staggering claim in front of construction workers

A personnel chief was condemned yesterday for telling a meeting of blacklisted workers that the scandal was a big fuss about very little.

So-called employee relations expert Mike Emmott, from human resources workers professional body the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), made the comments following his keynote speech at the Manchester Industrial Relations Societys 50th anniversary conference on Friday.

He told the packed-out meeting of 200 leading industrial relations academics, HR professionals and union officials, including blacklisted workers and Shrewsbury Pickets, that he found union moral outrage over blacklisting rather distasteful.

Mr Emmott had been speaking of the need for HR managers to embed a culture of trust, fairness and respect but showed his true colours after being quizzed by general union GMB political officer Neil Smith over CIPDs lack of response to blacklisting.

His outburst was met with gasps, then loud applause after follow-up questions identified a number in CIPDs ranks who were personally involved in blacklisting union members.

A flustered Mr Emmott responded by claiming ignorance, even though the issue has been front-page news in even the CIPDs own journal.

Yes, it is a big fuss about nothing when you cannot feed and clothe your kids and dont know why, said Manchester electrician and MRI picket Tony Jones, who was blacklisted for many years after raising concerns about electrical safety.

To me thats a form of child abuse.

Blacklist Support Group chairman Steve Acheson, also a Manchester electrician, said the campaign group had submitted a complaint to the CIPD for breaches of the code of ethical conduct but that, two years later, nobody had faced any sanction.

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Morning Star :: Blacklist fears a huge fuss over nothing says HR chief