FORMER bricklayer Neil Findlay won support yesterday from construction union Ucatt for his campaign to put struggling Scottish Labour back on firm foundations.

Ucatt became the sixth union to back Mr Findlay and fellow leftwinger Katy Clark, who is challenging for the party’s deputy leadership in Scotland.

General secretary Steve Murphy said the pair would create a “dynamic and radical leadership team” and put “clear red water” between Labour and the SNP with union help.

“Their policies will benefit working people who feel they are being ignored by other political parties,” added Mr Murphy.

The union leader praised Mr Findlay’s leadership in the campaign to win justice for blacklisted construction workers and commitment to a massive council house building programme.

General unions Unite and Unison, rail unions TSSA and Aslef and bakers’ union BFAWU have all already endorsed the left candidates.

None of their rivals have yet received any union support.

Blairite Jim Murphy responded yesterday by trying to reach out to workers with a pledge to “lead an assault on low pay” if he was elected leader.

He said: “I won’t wait until 2016. I will start immediately by bringing employers, trade unions and councils together to campaign for the living wage in every community in Scotland.”

But Ucatt Scotland secretary Harry Frew said Mr Findlay and Ms Clark were the candidates who “have the energy and the passion to take the fight to the SNP and the Con-Dem government.”