AN electrician who agreed a significant court settlement from Crossrail firms he had accused of blacklisting warned this week of “a culture of hostility” against union activists in the construction industry.

Daniel Collins, who helped build the Elizabeth line while working at Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street, had brought a case against several major construction firms. He claimed he had been unfairly sacked after raising health and safety concerns and leading a union campaign concerning employment, and then was routinely blocked from finding work on the railway.

The companies have paid out an undisclosed sum in a deal that they insist was agreed for “purely commercial reasons and without admission of liability or wrongdoing”.

A statement, read out by lawyers in the High Court this week, said: “Mr Collins’s belief is that the settlement was tantamount to an acceptance of liability on the part of the defendants. He feels fully vindicated. He hopes that the defendants will now be prepared to move away from what he believes to be a culture of hostility towards trade union activists in the construction sector and engage with trade unions in a genuine and constructive way, with the aim of rebuilding trust and improving industrial relations.”

It stated that Mr Collins joined Unite in 2011 after becoming concerned about construction site safety and a “bogus self-employment” system that allowed sub-contractors to hire workers without giving proper contracts.

His campaign led to a group of union members, including himself, being directly employed at ­Tottenham Court Road. He was made redundant three months later.

In February 2015, while working on the Crossrail project in Bond Street, he raised safety concerns about a narrow walkway with no handrails. Three days later he was dismissed, according to his statement.

Following this he protested outside the site.

The statement describes how he then “found it increasingly difficult to find work in the construction industry” and that job agencies routinely referred him for work on Crossrail projects only for offers to be pulled at the last moment; often with the same excuse that a vacancy had just been filled.

It said: “Mr Collins found the process of constantly making applications for work, but not getting anywhere, draining. There were times when he was not able to pay his household bills. He built up credit card debts and relied on support from the Blacklist Support Groups.”

In 2016 he submitted “subject access requests” to construction companies for information held with his name on it. One email said: “We have a potential issue. Danny Collins is part of the Unite activist group. I will call.”

Another said: “Read and Delete!!! I hope we never end up with this bloke on any of our sites!”

The court document said the defendants made an offer to settle the claim and pay legal costs.

The companies – including T Clarke, Costain, Skanska and NG Bailey – sent statements denying any wrongdoing and making clear that the settlement did not come with an admission of guilt.

A spokesperson for Costain said: “Costain demands the highest standards of practice regarding its recruitment and supply chain management.

“Mr Collins’s dismissal from the Crossrail site at Bond Street station in 2015 was due solely to there no longer being the required work available. We strongly denied the allegations and, as Mr Collins acknowledged in his statement, we do not accept that there has been any wrongdoing.”

A Transport for London spokesperson said: “Blacklisting is indefensible, unacceptable, and has never been tolerated on the Crossrail project. We do not accept that there was any basis for this allegation.”