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UCATT Wales and South West

UCATT Wales and South West


UCATT Wales and South West

199 Newport Road
Cardiff
CF2 1AJ
Tel 029 2049 8664
Fax 029 2048 1166

Plymouth

Tel 01752 481 794 

Regions

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Friday, 22 February 2008

Asbestos campaign launch in Wales

Huw-Irranca Davies MP will launch UCATT Wales campaign to overturn the Law Lords decision to block compensation for victims of pleural plaques.

Mr Irranca Davies, UCATT activists and asbestos campaigners will launch the campaign outside the National Assembly building in Cardiff.

The photo opportunity will be on:

FRIDAY 22 FEBRUARY

OUTSIDE THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY BUILDING

CARDIFF

CF99 1NA

AT 12pm

Sufferers of asbestos illnesses, Mr Irranca Davies and Nick Blundell UCATT’s regional secretary for Wales, will be available for interview following the photocall.

Pleural plaques is scarring of the lungs caused by heavy and long term exposure to asbestos. Victims of pleural plaques have a greatly increased risk of contracting mesothelioma the fatal lung cancer.

Pleural plaque victims can experience a number of debilitating mental and physical conditions caused by their injuries. One in seven of those diagnosed with pleural plaques will develop mesothelioma. Mesothelioma kills 2,000 people a year. The number of people developing mesothelioma is set to increase in the future and is likely to peak in 2020 with 20,000 people dying from the disease.

Nick Blundell, UCATT’s regional secretary for Wales and the South West, said: “Many workers were forced to work with asbestos even though their bosses knew the dangers they were facing. The very least that should happen is that they should receive compensation for their injuries.”

In October last year the Law Lords ruled that pleural plaques would no longer be a compensatable illness. The decision has been widely criticised inside and outside Parliament. Campaigners have since been calling on Jack Straw the Secretary of State for Justice to introduce fresh legislation, to overturn the Law Lords ruling. It is estimated the ruling will save insurance companies over £1 billion in compensation payments.

A copy of the postcard which can be sent directly to the Ministry of Justice calling for the Law Lords decision to be overturned is available for download HERE.

Mr Irranca Davies has a long history of involvement on asbestos issues and is a key figure in the South Wales Asbestos Support Group.