Unions claim Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act is a "hollow victory"
August 13, 2007
Unions have called the new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 a "hollow victory" for workers, and have pledged to continue to campaign for the imprisonment of company directors in cases where their actions lead to a death.
The Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) says the legislation has been a "severe disappointment" in that it has failed to include clauses which would have allowed the imprisonment of company directors, if their negligence had led to the death of a worker.
In a statement on the subject, UCATT said that without such clauses, there cannot be a step change in safety in the construction industry, the most dangerous industrial sector in Britain.
Alan Ritchie, the General Secretary of UCATT, said, "Ultimately any legislation involving corporate manslaughter is to be welcomed. However, this is a hollow victory. The legislation falls far short of Labour Party policy, passed following UCATT's motion at conference in 2006, which committed the Party to campaign for director's duties and the possibility of imprisonment for negligent directors."
When the Act received Royal Assent, a statement from the Ministry of Justice was clear on the new Act’s provisions with regard to directors, stating, "The Act is about corporate liability, not increasing liability for individual directors or managers who can already be held to account through health and safety laws and the common law of manslaughter."
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