Blacklisting construction firms have been handed the personal details of the very workers they blacklisted from the body that exposed the scandal in the first place.

Unions yesterday condemned the “national scandal and disgrace” of employers’ group The Construction Workers Compensation Scheme (TCWCS) obtaining the records through a court order.

Ucatt general secretary Steve Murphy said: “The main blacklisters have been handed lock, stock and barrel the files the ICO seized in 2009.

“The blacklisters will now have their victims’ updated addresses and have been given the means to blacklist their victims again.

“This is the equivalent of giving a burglar your new address so that they can come round and rob you again.”

The TCWCS comprises eight of the main firms implicated in the blacklisting scandal — Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska and Vinci.

Its court order compelled the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to hand over the information, which it seized in a 2009 raid on the Consulting Association — the firm that ran the blacklist subscribed to by construction firms.

The seized database contained the details over more than 3,000 construction workers and was used by many companies to weed out union activists.

Construction unions Ucatt, Unite and GMB are currently involved in negotiations with the TCWCS over reparations for workers who suffered as a result of being blacklisted.

The ICO confirmed it had turned over the information after a court order obtained by the TCWCS.

“What the Morning Star has uncovered here is a secretly obtained court order,” said GMB legal and corporate affairs officer Maria Ludkin.

“This order was obtained without informing any of the claimant groups in the High Court blacklisting action.

“At no stage have they told GMB that they possessed the contact details of our members, nor was GMB given the opportunity to object to blacklisters writing to those on the blacklist.

“GMB is very grateful to the Morning Star for uncovering this. We will be seeking immediate remedies in the courts against this secret justice.”

A TCWCS statement said it would not comment on the “confidential” negotiations.

But a spokeswoman added: “We have always stated that when the scheme launches, we will be publicising it as widely as possible.”

She said that the ICO held current addresses for many blacklisted workers but the TCWCS “does not currently have those contact details.”

The details would only be used to administer the compensation scheme, she said.