GMB, the union for construction workers, is asking the Scottish Affairs Select Committee which is investigating blacklisting to establish how and why environmental activists were added to the construction industry blacklist. Some of these were women.

The investigation should seek to establish if the police unit NETCU was involved in any way.

This arises after GMB were contacted by five women who are on the construction industry blacklist. All five confirmed that they were environmental activists.

GMB is assisting them to get their files from the ICO and with an assessment of their legal claims for damages.

These women are from Edinburgh, Leeds, Cornwall, Essex and the old county of Cleveland. They have no idea how they were put on the list.

The construction industry blacklist first came to light in 2009, when the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) seized a Consulting Association database of 3,213 construction workers and others. The blacklist was used by 44 companies to vet new recruits to stop trade union and health and safety activists and others getting jobs. The ICO never contacted anyone on the list to let them know they were blacklisted.

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In total there are 240 persons on the construction industry blacklist who have women's first names. Most have no building or construction trade listed for them. It is not known how many worked in the industry.

Last month the Times published a posthumous interview with Mr Kerr who ran the Consulting Association which mentioned a police unit. "Mr Kerr told The Times that the association had established links with the police and security services. He recounted a meeting organised by the association in 2008 when eight construction industry directors were addressed by a "key officer" from the National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit (Netcu), which was a Huntingdon-based police organisation set up to counter "extremist" protest groups.

"They were seeking a channel to inform construction companies [of the information] they were collecting [and] they were wanting to be able to feed it out to the companies," Mr Kerr said.

In return, the Netcu officer purportedly asked the companies to pass on their own information about potential troublemakers and Mr Kerr said that a "two-way information exchange” opened up. A police spokeswoman declined to comment" See full article in notes to editors below and some information on NETCU.

Maria Ludkin, GMB National Officer for Legal and Corporate Affairs: "GMB has never received a satisfactory explanation from Carillion or others as to what the Consulting Association was discussing with them at the regular "security meetings" they hosted. GMB do know that Mr John Edwards represented Carillion at least once at such a meeting since Carillion confirmed this to us.

Now we find environmental campaigners on the blacklist. We are asking the Scottish Affairs Select Committee to investigate how these names got on the list.

As Mr Kerr is dead the Select Committee should seek evidence from the eight construction industry directors who were addressed by a "key officer" from the National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit to establish what role the unit played – if any – in placing these environmental campaigners on the blacklist."

(GK)