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date: 3 May 2006

embargo: For immediate release

TUC disappointed at Lords asbestos ruling

The TUC today (Wednesday) expressed disappointment at the House of Lords ruling which will reduce the compensation received by two widows whose husbands died from mesothelioma as a result of coming into contact with asbestos at work.

Commenting on the appeal brought by the employers of the two men, John Murray and Vernon Barker, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

'It's shocking that the families of mesothelioma victims are to be denied compensation on a mere technicality. Despite being able to show that an employer exposed their husbands to asbestos and that the men died as a result of coming into contact with the fatal fibres, Sylvia Barker and Mary Murray and many more families in similar circumstances will now have to take action against all the employers their relatives have ever worked for.

'Today's ruling means that some mesothelioma victims and their families may only recoup a fraction of the compensation they should have received because by now some employers will have gone out of business. As it can be 40 years before this tragic disease develops, this ruling has huge implications for thousands of victims and their families.

'The Government must act immediately to change the law and ensure that this cruel and unjust decision is reversed.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

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Contacts:

Media enquiries: Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248; M: 07778 158175; E: media@tuc.org.uk

Press release (300 words) issued 3 May 2006