Unite: Workers lobby Parliament to end scandal of Lords’ asbestos ruling
Workers and their unions will make yet another attempt to persuade government to overturn a two-year old ruling by the Law Lords which ended compensation to workers suffering from work-induced asbestos diseases.
Unite, the UK’s biggest union, which has many members suffering from asbestos-related illnesses, denounced the Lords’ ruling but has also expressed anger at the government’s failure to overturn it, fearing that many of the victims will not live to see justice done and will end their days struggling to make ends meet. The union wants the government to use the time before the election to restore compensation for the victims.
Since the Law Lords ruled in 2007 to end compensation, unions have been pushing the Government to act by either overturning the decision and restoring the compensation system, or establishing an alternative system of recompense. A joint union rally in the Attlee Suite, Portcullis House, to be held at 4pm on Wednesday, October 28th, will once again call on Justice Minister Jack Straw to end the added suffering for the workers.
Ahead of the rally, Tony Woodley, Unite joint general secretary, said: “These men and women went to work healthy but came home carrying a ticking time bomb and a high risk of full blown lung cancer. Compensation, while it will not restore their health, goes some way towards easing the anguish for them and their families. It is scandalous, then, that we must continue to fight for justice when the chief worry for them and their families is whether they’re going to live long enough to benefit from it.
“Three unelected Law Lords, who I’m willing to bet have never witnessed a member of their family suffering from this evil disease, decided that pleural plaques is no longer a compensatable disease. Shamefully, this government is letting this ruling stand so that they can save £35 million a year and, in doing so, letting the greedy insurance industry dodge their duty to these people so they can pocket £1.4 billion.
“But this isn’t just about money, it’s about justice and it’s about employers accepting their liability for the pain, the anguish and even the deaths that they have caused. I expect Jack Straw and a Labour Government to show working people they are on their side, to do so before the next election, and overturn the Law Lords’ decision now.”
Pleural plaques is an avoidable disease affecting around 14,000 people a year, although medical expertise suggests that if screening were routine, this figure would rise significantly. It is caused when the lungs have been heavily exposed to asbestos. Up until 2007 when the Law Lords ruled against them, workers suffering from the disease were able to claim compensation.
For further information, please contact Pauline Doyle on 07976 832 861.
Notes to Editors: There is a growing body of evidence which points to the relationship between pleural plaques and ill health, including that highlighted in Pleural Plaques do hurt you (TUC/Risks 416, July 25th, 2009) and Pleural Plaques linked to lung cancer (TUC/Risks 409, June 6th, 2009).
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