The deal was agreed with the Unite union representing 97 workers who will receive payouts of between £25,000 and £200,000.

The agreement was reached ahead of a planned High Court hearing.

Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska and Vinci have now reached out-of-court settlements with 256 claimants.

Unite claimed the total paid out in compensation has been more than £10m.

The construction companies settled with the claimants represented by GMB, UCATT and legal firm GCR last month.

A statement from the contractors said: “The settlement with Unite brings to a close all the claims in the litigation.

“These construction companies wish to draw a line under this matter and continue to work together with the trade unions at national, regional and site level to ensure that the modern UK construction industry provides the highest standards of employment and HR practice for its workforce.”

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “The massive scale of the agreed damages – more than £10 million – shows the gravity of the misdeeds of these major construction companies which created and used the Consulting Group as a vehicle to enable them to blacklist trade unionists on behalf of more than 30 construction companies.

“The sums to be paid out go a considerable way to acknowledge the hurt, suffering and loss of income our members and their families have been through over many years.

“Under the agreement they can once more apply for jobs in the construction industry without fear of discrimination.”