Union leaders have raised fears that the government may not pay compensation to all those who claim for the asbestos-related condition pleural plaques.

The Press Association reports that officials from the construction workers’ union Ucatt are claiming the government is only planning to compensate those who lodged a claim before the 2007 Law Lords ruling that denied people the right to claim for the condition – a ruling which campaigners have been trying to overturn.

An announcement from the government on compensation for those with pleural plaques is expected this week. The condition is not considered to be a disease, although the scarring of lung tissue involved is thought to increase risk of developing the asbestos-related lung cancer mesothelioma, which generally carries a short life expectancy.

Ucatt is claiming that the government is ‘unwilling’ to sanction payouts to public sector workers exposed to asbestos while employed in former nationalised heavy industries including shipbuilding.

The union claims there are currently £30 million worth of cases of pleural plaques that have been legally stayed – some of which would have been liable for settlement under insurance schemes. Ucatt says the government is now planning to use public funds to meets the costs of claims.

General secretary of Ucatt, Alan Ritchie, called any proposal not to compensate workers suffering from asbestos-related conditions ‘morally indefensible’:

‘The state employed these workers and exposed them to asbestos – now the state must pay their compensation,’ he said.

‘The government is intending to pay compensation from an already severely overstretched public purse to pleural plaques victims, when it is the insurers who are liable. Why on earth are the insurers not being made to pay?’ he added.

Ucatt said the government was hoping to deflect any criticism by funding a national centre dealing with asbestos-related diseases, together with a register of those with pleural plaques and quicker compensation payments for those suffering from mesothelioma.

Mr Ritchie added:

‘The government have claimed they are looking beyond the pleural plaques issue. Instead they are abandoning the vast majority of pleural plaques victims whose health has been damaged through no fault of their own.

‘This is the opposite of social justice, which Labour was founded on.’

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