Compensation claims for asbestos victims ‘must be allowed’

Posted 27/10/2009

Trade union the GMB has urged the government to give the right to make compensation claims back to sufferers of -related pleural plaques.

The GMB has echoed recent statements made by the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (Ucatt) by calling for an abolition of laws preventing pleural plaque victims from taking legal action, reports the Telegraph.

These calls come in response to the recent House of Commons ratification of a private members’ bill to restore the right to compensation claims in such cases.

Steve Kemp, national political officer at the GMB, suggested that such laws were necessary in light of the number of companies which have evaded responsibility for causing industrial disease by simply “disappearing”.

He therefore called for compensation rights to be restored to pleural plaque sufferers whether the current bill is successful or not, adding the GMB will “put pressure on the government to reach a conclusion”.

Earlier this month, Ucatt general secretary Alan Ritchie described the current compensation laws as “unjust” and stated that strong support for their abolition exists both inside and outside of parliament.