A union leader will hand-deliver a fiery letter to the Scottish government today calling on ministers to block a notorious blacklister from building a flagship new museum in Dundee.

Dundee City Council’s decision to award a contract for building a new branch of the Victoria and Albert museum to construction firm BAM has led to condemnation from building unions, as reported in yesterday’s Star.

BAM has refused to pay compensation to workers who were blacklisted as a result of trade union activity.

But GMB general secretary Paul Kenny will join a protest outside the Glasgow constituency office of Scottish Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who is responsible for government procurement. Mr Kenny and union officer Justin Bowden will present Ms Sturgeon with a letter demanding she intervenes to enforce government guidelines which say blacklisters should not get government contracts until they compensate aggrieved workers.

The letter blasts the SNP’s “betrayal” of working people after its councillors voted with Tories in support of BAM.

Mr Kenny writes: “All the words about no more public work for blacklisters until they compensate their victims are just words. We are bitterly disappointed. We need you and Alex Slamond to intervene and reverse the decision in Dundee.

“If, as has been suggested, the council in Dundee were left with no choice but to award the contract to blacklisters, then very serious questions emerge about the whole tendering and scrutiny process.”

“I respectfully ask you to stand up for those workers, who are the real victims, in a spirit of real justice.”