Unions defeated the Labour Party leadership in yesterday’s conference vote on the corporate manslaughter bill.
After a 10-year gestation, the penalties in the corporate manslaughter bill are confined to company fines but delegates at the conference voted in favour of amending the bill so individual directors can be imprisoned for up to 14 years.
The vote was proposed by the Transport and General Workers’’ Union, and seconded by construction union UCATT.
Before the vote, Tony Woodley, T&G general secretary, said: “Organisations don’t kill people. Incompetent, negligent and greedy bosses do – they are quite literally getting away with murder every day.
“If death by dangerous driving deserves 14 years in jail, then the loss of a worker’s life through a boss’s mismanagement deserves the same.
“The current bill completely and deliberately excludes from its scope the prosecution of negligent directors, handing guilty directors a get out of jail free card.
“The government is just plain wrong. They are pandering to pressure from the CBI and we urge conference to back the resolution to hold guilty bosses to account.”
Alan Ritchie, UCATT general secretary said: “We are bitterly disappointed that the National Executive Committee is not supporting the resolution to hold directors accountable for actions that have resulted in the deaths of thousands of workers in the last ten years.
“We believe it is important that conference supports this resolution. Directors’ duties are the only way we can bring about the change in culture that is desperately needed to end the workplace death toll.
“It has been proven in the past that fines can be easily covered by companies without making the person responsible for health and safety on construction sites accountable.”
In the 30 years since the Health & Safety at Work Act was introduced ten thousand people have been killed in work-related accidents. In that same 30 year period only 11 company directors have been convicted of manslaughter. Of those 11 convictions only five directors have ever been imprisoned.
The corporate manslaughter bill is expected to go through the parliamentary process later this year and could be law by April 2007.
