Milton Keynes Council and Unite team up to protect local construction workers

Cllr Peter Marland, leader of Milton Keynes Council and Sarah Carpenter, Unite regional secretary for the South East signed the charter at a ceremony at the St Georges construction project in Milton Keynes at 4pm on Tuesday March 12.

Sarah Carpenter, Unite regional secretary for the South East said: “I’m pleased to join Councillor Peter Marland at St Georges to sign this groundbreaking agreement which will be a big boost for construction workers employed on building projects across Milton Keynes.“The Unite Construction Charter makes a difference by helping local workers to operate in a safe environment, giving them the rights to raise health and safety issues without fear. The Charter also protects workers from bogus self-employment by ensuring construction workers are directly employed.”

Construction firms planning to work on Milton Keynes Council building projects will now need to adhere to the new Construction Charter.

The charter commits to working with Unite in order to achieve the highest standards in respect of direct employment status, health & safety, standards of work, apprenticeship training and the implementation of appropriate nationally agreed terms and conditions of employment.

Councillor Peter Marland, leader of Milton Keynes Council, said: “Ensuring that people are able to work safely is highly important, but in the building industry it is a matter of life and death.

"The ability of employees to join a trade union, speak out on issues and be paid a fair rate for their labour is vital, and I’m proud that Labour-led Milton Keynes Council is one of the first to incorporate the Unite Construction Charter into our procurement standards.”