Not our problem

This isn't a story, they said. It's happening on every big site in London, probably everywhere in the UK. Everybody knows about it.

I'm sure that many people do know, or suspect, that foreign workers are being seriously underpaid on their projects. Maybe they don't see that as exploitation, just part of the construction economy and something that has been happening for centuries. After all, the argument goes, even if they are paid the minimum wage or less, workers from Eastern Europe are still getting more than they would be at home.

But this is not just about low pay. When a grown man tells you that he was scared because he hadn't been paid and had no means of returning home, you know that something is not right.

The problem is it's nobody's problem. The main contractor treats all its employees well. So do all its subcontractors. But can they realistically be expected to know about the sub-sub-subcontractors? OK, so you squeezed a subcontractor on price, but you weren't expecting the money to come from cheap labour somewhere down the line. Were you?

Often Eastern European workers receive free accommodation and transport to site. That can be a perk. But for unscrupulous employers it's also a way of controlling them and limiting their contact with the outside world. They have no one to turn to.

The unions can help, but how would a foreigner with no English know or find out about unions? UCATT's general secretary Alan Ritchie has spoken out against underpayment of foreign workers, but UCATT has no Polish-speaking officials. The Transport and General Workers' Union (T&G) at least has one.

I think any CIOB member who suspects people are not being fairly treated should do something about it. The T&G says that where main contractors have been informed that there is exploitation, management has removed those involved whilst retaining the workers.

I don't think it's right that someone should do a full day's work and receive less than the going wage. I don't think it's right for people to turn a blind eye if they know this is going on. And if that makes me naïve, I don't care.