British Blacklisting: labour unions protesting another scandal linked to ETR 407

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - July 5, 2013) - Unite, Britain's biggest union, is coming to Toronto to protest about ETR 407 owner and contractor, Ferrovial's involvement in a 'blacklisting' scandal. They are being supported by some Canada biggest labour unions including the USW, the CAW, the Teamsters, the UFCW and the SEIU.

Unite believes that their Shop Steward, Frank Morris, and his colleagues were put out of work by a Ferrovial joint venture (BFK) last year just because Frank was an active trade unionist who raised legitimate health and safety concerns.

Unite General Secretary, Len McCluskey said: "Both contractors on the ETR 407 extension - Ferrovial and SNC Lavalin - are now implicated in bribery scandals but we think Ferrovial's involvement in 'blacklisting' is even worse!

Ferrovial needs to understand that this is a question of fundamental human rights. Is it acceptable to put people out of work because they try to protect the lives of their fellow workers?

Unite says no. We want people to know that the big winners on the ETR 407 extension have serious questions to answer about the human rights issue of blacklisting in Britain as well as bribery. I have launched an international campaign, to ensure that all Ferrovial's shareholders and clients are pressed to make moral and ethical decisions about their future relations with the company.

Already one Ferrovial shareholder - Federal Finance - has exited from the company after hearing Unite's evidence - and I would not be surprised if more were to follow. Now we are asking the question, should companies like Ferrovial be getting public contracts in Canada?"

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Unite is Britain and Ireland's largest trade union with 1.5 million members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Len McCluskey.

• Ferrovial's subsidiary Cintra owns 43.23% of 407 International Inc. Last year a 50/50 joint venture between Cintra and SNC-Lavalin was also awarded the $1 billion contract to design, build, finance, and maintain Phase 1 of the new Highway 407 East.

• In Spain, a report by the anti-corruption prosecutor accuses Ferrovial of paying 6,607,605.58 Euros in kickbacks to local politicians. Ferrovial claims that this was simply sponsorship contributions to the
Palau de la Música. Ferrovial has tried to claim that Frank's work ended because the contract he was working under came to a natural end. However, Unite has evidence which refutes this claim, including a contract extension until September 2013 which was signed by BFK a couple of months before the dismissals.

UNITE WILL BE PROTESTING AT:

Monday, July 8, 2013 at 8:00 a.m.

INFORMATIONAL PICKET AT FERROVIAL AGROMAN OFFICE

2425 Matheson Boulevard East

Mississauga, ON

L4W 5K4

Wednesday, July 10, 2013 at 8:00 a.m.

INFORMATIONAL PICKET AT 407 ETR / CINTRA OFFICE

6300 Steeles Avenue West

Vaughan, ON

L4H 1J1