On 21st October Steve Acheson
appeared at the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, central London. He was there because Scottish and
Southern Energy, the owners of Fiddlers Ferry power station, were seeking an
injunction against him under the Prevention of Terrorism Act!
The wording of the application stated that, by
the crime of giving out leaflets, he was “inciting
the workforce to commit acts contrary to the national interest which may impact
on energy supplies.” Nay, more than that, “he has, at times, acted in a way
that might have intimidated the workforce.”
What the application didn’t mention
was that Steve was dismissed from the site because he had been blacklisted.
Blacklisting is an illegal action carried out by the dirtiest bosses in the
construction industry (quite a lot of them) and it has ruined workers’ lives
Steve has been giving out leaflets against the
blacklist since he was sacked in December 2008. SSE calls this a terrorist
activity. Supporters and fellow blacklisted workers gathered outside the Courts
– all felt, ‘You couldn’t make this up.’
The judge (for once) agreed. Justice Mann described the SSE
legal case as “lacking any evidence at all” and as “fanciful bordering on
paranoid”.
Darren 0’Grady (blacklisted) pointed out that
the real terrorists are the construction companies who blacklist workers. They
are the ones who should be banged up by the courts. Steve, he said, was a hero.
Dave Smith (blacklisted) asked how was Steve a
terrorist? Might someone trip up over the leaflets he was handing out? Workers
now had access to some of the blacklist reports. Workers were blacklisted and
made in effect unemployable because they complained about people falling off
unsafe scaffolding.
The fight against the blacklist is a fight for
human rights and trade union rights. Steve Acheson summed it up when he said, “If this injunction had gone
through it would have had a devastating impact upon trade unions ability to
organise. I have been boosted by the support I have received from so many
people. This is a defeat for corporate bullies.”
Click here to watch a YouTube video of a report of the event.
