TUC Welcomes Asbestos Compensation Announcement

Welcoming the announcement (Friday 13th February) by Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell that Turner & Newall (T&N) workers with asbestos related diseases will be allowed to keep Government compensation alongside that paid by the company, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

"This corrects an injustice which led to several hundred workers being denied compensation.
This anomaly led to a situation whereby in many cases it was better for workers not to apply to the T&N compensation fund because they could get more compensation under the Government scheme.

This decision rectifies that, and means that workers suffering from mesothelioma can now claim compensation from both their old company and the Government, although even that will still be less than they would have been likely to get had T&N not gone into administration.

We hope that the Government's willingness to act in the interests of the T&N workers will mean that it soon announces its intention to ensure that those who are diagnosed with pleural plaques will also have compensation restored to them. This follows the earlier House of Lords judgement which denied workers the right to damages from those employers who exposed them negligently to asbestos."

Source: TUC

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