BAM Construction has won the bid to build the V&A Dundee museum despite the accusations, raised by unions and opposition councillors, that it took part in blacklisting in Scotland, reports the BBC.

The firm has”categorically” denied the claims. A spokesman, however, did confirm that the company had used the services of The Consulting Association. TCA was caught in 2009 holding a blacklist of more than 3,000 building workers that were active members of trade unions, and vocal on matters such as health and safety violations by their employers.

Richard McCready, of the opposition Labour group at the council, called the selection of BAM for the V&A project a “moral issue.” Members of Dundee’s Trades Union Congress handed out leaflets criticizing the company, and Steve Murphy, general secretary of the Ucatt building workers’ union, said blacklisting firms should be banned from public contracts until they had “fairly compensated the workers whose lives they ruined.”

The V&A Dundee, due to be completed by 2017, will be the first permanent outpost of the renowned London museum. The Japanese architect Kengo Kuma designed the $58m (£45m) building, which will be based on the banks of the River Tay. It is set to become the centerpiece of a $1.2bn (£1bn) redevelopment of Dundee’s waterfront, which is expected to create thousands of jobs, attract hundreds of thousands of tourists, and bring millions of pounds of investment to the city.