Meeting of the Parliament 18 April 2024
The bill would establish a council that would get the workers who are impacted by illnesses and injuries around the table to design the benefit. The budget to pay for addressing those conditions has been devolved from the United Kingdom Parliament to the Scottish Parliament. It is up to the Scottish Parliament to take up the responsibility of creating a system that is fit for purpose and that does not ignore the female workers who have been ignored for the past 40 to 50 years.
If a man works with asbestos and contracts mesothelioma as a result of his exposure, he is covered. However, a woman who works in an environment that has asbestos in it is completely ignored by the system just because she happens not to touch the asbestos during the course of her work—she still inhales the fumes every day. We need such people around the table to design the benefit as it is introduced and devolved. There is a huge gap in the devolution process so far.
I express my sincere thanks to Sheena, Sam and the countless others who have shared their absolutely heartbreaking stories with me over the years. They have convinced me of the necessity for the bill. Organisations such as the disabled workers committee of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, Action on Asbestos, Thompsons Solicitors Scotland, Scottish Hazards, Long Covid Scotland, the Child Poverty Action Group, Close the Gap, the Scottish healthcare workers coalition and even the Government-established Fair Work Convention have all shaped and supported the development of the bill. I am grateful for the endorsement of trade unions, including Unite, USDAW, the GMB, Unison, PFA Scotland and the Fire Brigades Union, as well as all members of the Scottish Trades Union Congress who back the proposal. The Scottish National Party trade union group backs the proposal; it is just a shame that the Government does not listen to its own trade union members.
Yesterday, the STUC unanimously adopted a motion of support for the bill, calling for the Government to accelerate the delivery of Scottish employment injury assistance and an advisory council.
I will mention the many ex-professional footballers who have supported my colleague Michael Marra’s Injury Time campaign to have brain injuries from football classified as an industrial injury. That is a cross-party campaign, with support from SNP MPs down south, but it does not seem to have the party’s support up here. It is backed by Sir Alex Ferguson, Craig Levein, Gordon Strachan and Alex McLeish.
In their work and support, all those organisations have highlighted the absolute urgency of giving to people who are ill because of their job a stronger voice and a fairer deal on employment injury assistance in Scotland. Absolutely nobody should suffer unnecessarily because of the job that they once did.
Firefighters who keep us safe from burning buildings and toxic fumes are now three times more likely to suffer from prostate cancer, leukaemia or oesophageal cancer. Right now, they are entitled to absolutely no support from the Government in recognition of the role that their job played in making them ill. Teachers who worked in classrooms with asbestos are now suffering from mesothelioma but, again, they are entitled to no support. Footballers such as Billy McNeill and Gordon McQueen were three times more likely than the rest of us to suffer from dementia but, again, they were entitled to no support with the illness that their job caused.