Unite and Wolverhampton City Council have joined forces to ensure that working conditions and building standards on construction projects under the control of the borough are top notch.
Construction firms planning to work on Wolverhampton City Council building projects will now need to adhere to a 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.
Roger Lawrence, leader of Wolverhampton City Council and regional secretary for the West Midlands Annmarie Kilcline, will sign the Charter at a ceremony at the Civic Centre on Thursday 6 December.
The Charter will cover important local authority construction projects including the council’s ambitious plans for the development of the city centre and the new Wolverhampton city railway station.
Unite regional secretary for the West Midlands Annmarie Kilcline said: “By working with Unite, the council is showing that it wants the best building standards for Wolverhampton. The council is making a significant commitment to construction workers and to residents.
“Unite’s Construction Charter helps workers to operate in a safe environment on construction sites. The Charter also ensures that workers will be directly employed to prevent poor industry practices which result in the loss of employment rights. Crucially workers can raise health and safety issues without fear.”
Roger Lawrence, Leader of Wolverhampton City Council said: “We are very pleased to be signing up to Unite union’s Construction Charter. The council have ambitious plans for Wolverhampton including the city centre and the new Wolverhampton city railway station. We believe it’s really important that the construction companies we work with meet these high standards for both residents and construction workers.”