Unite steps up calls for "root and branch reform" of company law after Carillion closure

2 September 2019, 05:35

Workers who lost their jobs following the collapse of Wolverhampton-based Carillion are still seeking justice amid continued inaction against the company's directors and senior managers, according to a trade union.

Unite has stepped up calls for a "root and branch reform" of company law as this Friday marks 600 days since Carillion went out of business.

Thousands of workers lost their jobs, with Unite now taking employment tribunal cases for around 220 former employees, claiming a lack of consultation before they were made redundant.

The union said Carillion's two flagship hospital projects, the Royal Liverpool Hospital and the Midland Metropolitan Hospital, are years behind schedule with work not yet restarted or only just getting under way.

The Midland Metropolitan Hospital was due to be completed last October but will not be finished before late 2021, Unite said.

Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail said: "As we approach 600 days since the collapse of Carillion it is totally apparent the Government has failed to learn any lessons from this debacle.

"The guilty directors and senior managers remain unpunished and are free to pursue new lucrative roles while the innocent workers have a long battle ahead of them in their battle to secure compensation in the courts.

"Flagship hospital projects are years away from being completed, meanwhile patients and staff have been left to struggle on in facilities that are no longer fit for purpose.

"Government ministers have clearly washed their hands of the whole mess and now pretend it is no longer their problem.

"It is quite clear that their needs to be a root and branch reform of company law to prevent similar collapses in the future and the creation of effective regulators with real teeth who are able and willing to tackle bandit capitalism."