Government ‘must do more to support asbestos victims’

Posted 25/01/2010

A trade union has called on the government to offer more support to victims of -related pleural plaques over concerns that proposed legal changes do not go far enough.

The Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (Ucatt) has described new parliamentary proposals to restore the right of pleural plaque victims to make compensation claims in a limited fashion as “shameful”.

Under the proposals, only those who took legal action prior to the outlawing of compensation claims in 2007 would receive a payout, with the money coming from public funds.

Ucatt’s general secretary Alan Ritchie stated that these measures will stretch the public budget and accused the government of being unwilling to compensate public sector staff.

He said: “The state employed these workers and exposed them to , now the state must pay their compensation. A failure to do so is morally indefensible.”

Compensation claims for pleural plaques have been illegal since 2007 but are now permitted in Scotland, a move which Ucatt has suggested should be extended across the UK.