Government urged to investigate working conditions at Tottenham Hotspur stadium

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The Government are being urged to investigate working conditions on the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, according to an investigation by leading industry publication the Construction News.

It has already been previously reported that the delayed and over budget project has lead to dramatic wage increases for construction workers throughout London – with electricians offered up to £400 a day to work onsite.

The latest findings by the Construction News highlights how much of a disaster it has been.

Construction News has been told by workers on the scheme that many were working long hours as the handover deadline approached, and has also obtained evidence of workers being incentivised to undertake back-to-back 12-hour shifts.

The £800m project, which is being built by Mace, is nearing its completion date in time for the club to play its second home game of the 2018/19 Premier League season.

An email to staff from one subcontractor on the project, seen by CN, offers workers an extra four hours’ pay if they work four 12-hour shifts in a row.

CN has also discovered multiple job adverts, posted by recruitment agencies on a major UK job site, for roles involving 16-hour days and 80-hour weeks.

The posts call for workers who can take on “long hours” as the project “has to be kept to extremely tight deadlines”.

One night labourer advertisement requests workers who can do “80 hours per week”, while another for a handyman role advertises working hours of “8 hours a day to 16 hours”.

Responding to CN’s findings, a spokesperson for Mace said the contractor was “aware of the risks of overworking on such a busy project”, adding that the firm was carrying out random spot checks with subcontractors to make sure staff working longer hours were given breaks and rest periods.

There is no suggestion that Mace was involved in creating or posting the job adverts seen by CN.

A worker who left the project due to the working conditions, and spoke to CN on the condition of anonymity, described how the project’s intensity had increased ahead of a test event at the new ground in late August.

“All our supervisors came and said, ‘It’s crunch time, we need you to do a lot more work’,” they said.

The former worker said conditions on site had become challenging as more and more workers were brought in.

“There were so many people there when you were walking round the corner you’d nearly be being hit in the face by stuff. Compared to other jobs it just seemed very rushed.

“One of my colleagues – an experienced electrician – said he felt he should go to the Health and Safety Executive, he’d never worked on a site like that.

“He reckoned it was overcrowded and there were too many trades. There was an accident waiting to happen.”

The current total workforce on site is just over 3,800 people, CN understands, with around 100 staff being given a full health, safety and wellbeing induction on the project each day.

In May, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy wrote an open letter to supporters which included an update on the stadium, saying “contractors with a workforce approaching 3,000 are working around the clock” as it battled to get the stadium completed for the start of the 2018/19 season.

In response to CN’s investigation, Labour’s shadow minister for labour Justin Madders called on the government to act to ensure those working on the project were doing so safely.

“Terms and conditions that put the welfare of workers at risk are unacceptable and the source of these adverts must be thoroughly investigated as a matter of urgency,” he said

“This is a high-profile project which should be founded on a gold standard of health and safety. A tight timeframe is no excuse for working conditions that can put people at risk.

“The government must act immediately to ensure all those working on Tottenham’s stadium are doing so safely and are not being forced to work dangerously long hours.”

A Mace spokesperson said the business would continue to work with Tottenham Hotspur to identify areas of improvement around health and safety as the project entered its final phase

They said: “As [is] normal with a project of this size, which is comparable to projects like the Olympic Park or Heathrow Terminal 5, during the final phases of construction activity ramps up.

“This will come as no surprise to anyone with experience in our industry.

“The health, safety and wellbeing of everyone working on our projects is our highest priority, and we are committed to making sure that everyone on our projects goes home safely at the end of each day.

“As with any project, there is always room for improvement, and we are constantly working with our client, supply chain and operatives to identify areas where we need to do better.”

A Tottenham Hotspur Football Club spokesperson said: “Our stadium construction partners Mace are in control of the stadium site and we expect them to uphold the requisite welfare rights of all contractors.

“They have assured us that they supply the appropriate level of welfare facilities, in line with industry standards for a site of this size, and reiterated that the health and safety of all those on site is of paramount importance to them.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: “The UK has some of the most robust protections for employees and safest workplaces in the world.

“Employees with concerns can raise a complaint through the Health and Safety Executive for safety issues and get support on workplace disputes from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.”

Recent reports are that a failure to secure naming rights for the project is set to cause the North London club financial difficulty.

Keenos

Aaron Ramsey closing in on new deal

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I think he is looking at what the likes of Mesut Ozil is getting, and what other’s in the Premier League are on, and feels that £150,000 is less than what he is worth

That was the response from someone during a discussion over what is happening with Aaron Ramsey’s contract. And it is very hard to disagree with it.

Aaron Ramsey is one of the best central midfielders in the Premier League – I find it very odd the way some fans still criticise him.

At 27-years old, he is coming into the peak of his career. There are not too many all round midfielders better than him.

He covers the ground in the middle of the park – usually number one for KM covered for Arsenal. He can pass (85% pass completion),he can defend and he can attack – he averaged 1 goal or assist every 3 games in the Premier League throughout his entire career.

If you take penalties out of it, is influence in terms of goals and assists per game is not too far off Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard – and they both also took free kicks and corners.

The two Englishmen are superior to Ramsey, but it is hard to name too many other Premier League central midfielders who, over the last decade, have been as consistent and influential as Aaron Ramsey.

He does have his injury problems, and has failed to play over 25 league games in the last two years, but fans were more than happy to ignore the injury records of jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain when is came to contract renewal time.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is one of the players Ramsey is probably looking at,

Arsenal were reportedly willing to offer The Ox £180,000 a week. Ramsey is a much better player, there is no debate.

As well as Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey is probably looking at what players at other clubs are getting. The likes of Raheem Sterling, Fernandinho, Cesc Fabregas and David Silva. All of which are in the £160k-£200k bracket. He is in the same box as these guys when it comes to influence and talent.

He is probably also looking at Paul Pogba on £290k a week.

Pogba has the name and reputation, but he often flatters to deceive due to his high price tag and wages. Is Ramsey on Pogba’s level? The statistics would indicate yes.

Paul Pogba is overpaid on £290k a week. Would Ramsey be underpaid on £150k a week?

As Arsenal fans, we have moaned in recent years that not enough of our players would get into the first XIs of those above us.

Ramsey would start for every Premier League side bar Manchester City. And even City would want him as a squad player – he would still probably start 30 games across all competitions for them.

My feeling is Aaron Ramsey will sign a new deal, maybe even this week. I am certain he will not go to Chelsea or elsewhere over the next 10 days.

If he does not sign this week, he is playing the Ozil card, waiting as long as possibly to sign to push those wages up. In that case, we will see him agree a new deal in December or January.

Ramsey is key to our present. Hopefully the deal is tied up this week.

Keenos

Arsenal set to sell 5 this week

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At the time of writing, Arsenal have made money on just a single player. Jeff Reine-Adélaïde joining Angers in France for just £1million. That is against ~£67,400,000 spent on 5 senior professionals.

With a little over a week until the transfer window shuts, this will be the week that Arsenal start shipping out players that are no longer required.

The first out of the door will likely be Chuba Akpom. A deal in the region of £2,000,000 has been agreed with PAOK in Greece. Expect this one to be done within 24 hours 9it might even be completed before I hit “publish”).

Talk is also starting to increase about Lucas Perez. Early indications were that Unai Emery was going to give him a second chance, however he failed to impress during the pre-season tour in Singapore and has been interesting Lazio.

With Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson looking good in pre-season, Emery seems to have decided to give them more chances in the first team squad at the sacrifice of 29-year-old Perez.

The development of Smith Rowe, Nelson and a good showing from Eddie Nketiah could also mean the end for Danny Welbeck.

Arsenal set to sell 5 this week

With a year left on his contract, Welbeck is unlikely to sign a new deal with the club considering the array of young attacking talent we have come through. This leaves Emery with a decision.

Take a risk and sell Welbeck, promoting Nketiah to 3rd choice striker. Or keep Welbeck for one more year, giving 19-year-old Nketiah another year to develop.

My money is on Welbeck staying for another year, with his younger teammate getting a loan deal to a top end Championship club. Welbeck will then be allowed to leave on a free transfer in 2019, with the club knowing his replacement is also costing nothing.

Everything could change however if Arsenal were to end up with a bid northwards of £20,000,000.

Reports in Turkey are that David Ospina will finally join Besiktas.

He has been linked with a move to Turkey every since his second season with Arsenal; and it seems this year will be when it finally happens, with Arsenal having signed German keeper Bernd Leno and Petr Cech having done a full pre-season.

Some outlets are reporting it is a loan deal, others a permanent deal. £2,000,000 the mooted feed.

Joel Campbell was omitted from Unai Emery’s first team squad for the pre-season tour of Singapore. It is clear that his future lies away from North London, and the likelihood if he was told last week that he was to stay at home to find a new club.

The only problem is who would actually want him?

Now 26-years-old, he has done nothing with Arsenal and not much more with 6 loan spells at 5 different clubs throughout Europe. Another side would be reluctant to offer him the £30,000 he is currently on at Arsenal, and he would surely not take a permanent transfer elsewhere for less money with a year left on his contract.

It would not surprise me if Arsenal let him join another side on a free transfer.

Welbeck aside, we are unlikely to get much from selling Akpom, Perez, Ospina and Campbell, but the quartet take up nearly £7,000,000 a year in annual salary.

If Arsenal do thin the squad out by selling on the fringe players, expect them to explore bringing in one more at the beginning of next week before the transfer window slams shut.

Keenos