Left leaning

Well, he's back.

Skanska Construction is employing a full-time UCATT steward convener on its Swiss Re site. And project director Gary Clifford - who with 23 years' experience on site should surely know better – says that he would "definitely, 100 per cent" want to have a convener on his next job.

Convener Terry Harbour is a brickie by trade. His last job was as bricklaying foreman on the vast Bluewater shopping complex in Kent, where he was a shop steward.

It was Jerry Swain, UCATT regional secretary for London and the South East, who put Harbour forward for the Swiss Re post, after agreeing with Dave Shadwell, Skanska UK Building's managing director, that there would be a convener on the project.

Harbour is not bolshy, but he is straight-talking and he doesn't suffer foolish questions gladly. For example: Is there racial tension on site? "This is a construction site. Most immigrants work on construction sites. Most of the illiterate boys who misbehaved at school are on construction sites.

"Of course we have this kind of stuff. You only have to look at the graffiti in the toilets."

Safe harbour
So what does a UCATT convener do these days?

Harbour's day starts at around 8:00 or 8:30 with a site induction session. Given the size of the site – there's 38 of the 40 storeys to work on right now – it is hardly surprising that there are new workers every day. Skanska does have a full-time health and safety adviser on site, but Clifford thinks there are advantages of using Harbour: "Terry can connect with the workforce because he is from that backgound and they appreciate it, as opposed to a manager in a shirt and tie who may come across as if he is just paying lip service." And it saves an hour and a quarter of management time per day.

Meanwhile, Harbour gets to meet every single worker. Later in the day he will get another chance to memorise the faces and names when he issues the photo passes. There are a lot to remember; 2,500 have passed through the induction room; 500 are on site at the moment.

For the remainder of the day, Harbour gets on with his main job, what he calls "looking after the interests of all the lads on site".

"No, not just UCATT members," he says, another daft question. "All of them. If we look after them, they will want to join the union."

He sells membership as an insurance policy: £2.20 a week means you will always have a specialist construction solicitor if you need one.

Everyone here has the choice of being in the union, says Clifford. Some of the subcontractors support UCATT, pay their workers' membership, some of them have been brought round to the idea. Some are against it.

First port of call
On Swiss Re, Harbour estimates that 60 per cent of the men are union members either of UCATT, AEEU or TGWU. That compares to approximately 25 per cent on your average site.

Harbour tours the whole site each day, starting at floor 38 and working his way down. Workers can approach him with what he calls "ideas, suggestions and complaints". It might be the price of tea in the canteen, the hot water in the showers, he says, but is quick to add: "We are not here just to take complaints. A lot of the lads have better ideas about health and safety on site," although he can't bring any specific examples to mind.

Harbour says he is a buffer between the workers and Skanska management.

"The lads don't go down the canteen and talk about things and get upset and then it all boils over. They come and see me first."

Once a month, Harbour meets with around 15 operatives, taken from all the subcontractors on site. The workers can bring their comments about safety or welfare issues to Terry in confidence, and he then takes them to the monthly site health and safety meeting. "We do have our arguments, but it works," he says of the system.

Strict site
Harbour plays a key role in the discipline procedure. The site operates a yellow and red card system, which works the same way as football. He, Skanska staff and foremen hand out cards for misdemeanours such as working unsafely, smoking where it's not allowed or abusive behaviour.

Nothing unusual about the card system. But at Swiss Re, everyone has the right to appeal. "Sometimes you get over-zealous foremen giving out red cards and yellow cards because someone's got on their wrong side or they're in a bad mood because they've fallen out with their wife the night before."

If a worker feels he has been unfairly treated, he can come to Harbour and there is a set procedure in place to deal with it.

So what does Harbour add to the job? The welfare on the Swiss Re site is pretty outstanding, with or without him: two canteens, showers, a locker for everyone in the dry room, an occupational nurse on site weekly. The welfare facilities are clean, the site is very tidy. So morale is likely to be high.

The cynical among you might say it is a PR exercise for Skanska, showing that they have the 'Respect for People' demanded by Rethinking Construction, preserving good relationships with the unions. But Skanska is not alone.

Mace, Multiplex and Bovis each have one site with a convener (Skanska also has a convener on a second job). And UCATT's Jerry Swain is talking to contractors about other upcoming jobs.

Challenge to the dinosaurs
A cynic might also sound a note of caution. Is it wise to actively encourage the spread of union membership and so encourage industrial action?

This is definitely not what Harbour is about. "I love my job," he says, despite the difficulty of making the transition from site worker to working alongside management, despite the nerves from having to stand up in front of a room of 20 strangers at the inductions. "I love my job because I believe in it. I think I am making a difference. If I didn't believe in it, I don't think I could do it."

Harbour hopes that Swiss Re will change some minds. "My biggest challenge is to get to the end of the job. After three years of work, our safety record will be up here," he says, holding his hand up at eye level. "If a job like this can go without any major accidents, that will really make an impact." The safety record so far is good, but not perfect. Its accident/incident rate is half the national average.

For the doubters out there, Jerry Swain issues a challenge to what he calls the "dinosaurs of the industry" - the major contractors who refuse to consider conveners. "Let them put up any of their sites up against Swiss Re, or the other jobs with conveners and let's see if they can do better on quality of work, if they have a better safety record, if morale among the men is better on site. Let's see who is best."