The Enquirer understands that a number of blacklist victims are becoming frustrated at delays in receiving payouts.

And they fear the construction unions are standing in the way of a settlement because of their refusal to agree terms with contractors who have set up the Construction Workers Compensation Scheme.

Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and Vinci have set-up the scheme to compensate victims.

Anyone on The Consulting Association database is guaranteed £1,000 with payments rising up to £100,000 for the most severe cases.

But the unions have slammed the scheme as “a travesty of justice.”

Workers now fear that the unions will not strike a deal in time to help them.

One 69-year-old shuttering carpenter said: “I’m not in the best of health and this has been dragging on for ages.

“It seems like the unions don’t want to accept any offer but where does that leave me?”

The Enquirer has seen the carpenter’s file which reveals a horrific history of serial blacklisting.

He said: “There are others like me – we just want compensation but this has now become a political situation.

“I asked the union about the next steps and they recommended a lawyer charging £230-an-hour”

Ucatt, Unite and the GMB have held a series of talks with the employers with the next round scheduled for later this month.

One industrial relations expert said: “It’s unlikely the unions will agree to any sort of figures the contractors put forward which is leaving a lot of people in limbo.

“People who want to take a settlement should be allowed to individually without having to wait for the unions to make a decision for everyone.

“A lot of these people are retired now and aren’t even in the union.”