Following Boris Johnson’s speech calling on the construction industry to return to work, workers have released a video on social media that calls the government strategy social murder. The video was produced by the grassroots Shut The Sitescampaign, which is calling for the closure of all non-essential building sites and for all workers to be paid irrespective of whether they are employees, self-employed or agency workers. The video has contributions from 5 construction workers and a 9 year old daughter of a building worker being forced back onto site, but also features:
- Professor Steve Tombs from the Open University who describing the new return to work strategy says “the government must know that construction workers are exposed to and unwitting carriers of coronavirus. In my view this is criminal negligence, its manslaughter, its social murder”
- Simon Hester, an ex-Health & Safety Executive lead inspector for construction in London for 18 years (currently working on safety on behalf of unions representing building workers at the Qatar World Cup)
- Professor Sian Moore, University of Greenwich who calls for all construction workers to be paid furlough money irrespective of their employment status
- Mark Anthony, the Editor of the construction trade magazine Demolition News
On the very day the Government urges all construction workers to return to work, the Office of National Statistics releases figure showing that keeping sites open has led to three times as many deaths of construction workers as healthcare professionals.