Pleural plaques demo

The Unite and GMB general unions and UCATT construction union held a joint lobby on 28 October to persuade the government to overturn last year’s House of Lords’ ruling and reinstate compensation for victims of the asbestos condition pleural plaques.

Graham Goddard, Unite deputy general secretary, said: “There is only one cause of this disease and that is the widespread, indiscriminate use of asbestos throughout industry for years. No one protected our people from this exposure, and now they are suffering. Compensation must come from those who put them at risk in the first place, and from an insurance industry which made money from that risk.”