The 500 Club - Aslef

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18 Legalthe ASLEF JOURNALPleural plaques ruling recognises rightsof victims above interests of insurersthE Supreme court has dismissed anappeal brought by four UK insurerswho challenged the lawfulness of anAct of the Scottish Parliament (the damages(Asbestos-related conditions) (Scotland) Act2009).in unanimously rejecting the insurers’appeal the Supreme court delivered a ringingendorsement of the holyrood legislationwhich preserves the right of people withpleural plaques in Scotland to sue forcompensation. the court accepted thatScottish pleural plaques sufferers were directlyaffected by the insurers’ legal challenge andVictoria Phillips, Head of theEmployment Rights at our legaladvisors thompsons, reports on lastmonth’s Supreme Court decision onpleural plaques compensation inScotland. Now the Westminstergovernment is alone is refusing toconcede that people whose lungs havebeen damaged by asbestos are entitledto compensation …had a right to object. the legislation was saidto serve a legitimate social policy aim and wasa proportionate means of doing so. theinsurers were wrong to complain that the Actwas an unreasonable, irrational and arbitraryexercise of legislative authority.WEStMINStER GOVERNMENt‘ISOLAtED’the ruling will also enable a similar Act inNorthern ireland to come into force. thepurpose of both Acts was to reverse thedecision of the house of Lords in Rothwell vchemical & insulating co Ltd [2007] UKhL 29.in that case it was decided that pleural plaquesdid not constitute injury which could give riseto a claim for damages.it means that ASLEF members in Scotlandand Northern ireland who have beendiagnosed with pleural plaques will be able topursue claims for compensation against theemployers who negligently exposed them. Butmembers in England and Wales remain unableto do so.this decision recognises the democraticright of the Scottish Parliament to legislate forthe benefit of its citizens.in Scotland the rights of people withpleural plaques are more important than thecommercial interests of insurers, which is howit ought to be. the Northern ireland Assemblyhas approved a Bill in similar terms to Scotland.Meanwhile nothing has changed for pleuralplaques sufferers in England and Wales. thefailure of the Westminster government to actleaves it isolated. Only the discreditedarguments of insurers and politicians couldattempt to justify why people in Scotland andNorthern ireland whose lungs have beendamaged by asbestos are entitled tocompensation while those suffering from thesame condition in England & Wales are leftwithout a remedy.ObituariesGREG PINNINGFUNERAL INMANILAIt with regret that I have toreport the passing of retireddriver Greg Pinning at the youngage of 61. Greg passed awaypeacefully after a long strugglewith illness at the QuirrinoMemorial Medical Centre inManila in the Philippines. Hisfuneral was held in Manila.Greg was one of the last ‘FenTigers' commencing hisfootplate career at March in1966. Subsequently he obtaineda drivers position at St Pancras,then, when Thameslinkwithdrew their work, moved toBedford, where he became apopular colleague. It was whilehe was at Bedford that hecontracted his illness whichresulted in him having to beaccommodated on shed dutiesuntil he achieved his goal, whichwas to retire with his wife Denia,to their new home in thePhilippines.He was a very dependabledriver who could always berelied upon to carry his duties toa very high standard, assistingeveryone to get away early by'putting' their trains away forthem at the end of a shift. Hisstamp collection was one of hishobbies and he was a lover ofplaying the ‘bandit’ in the messroom. A big man in all senses ofthe word, he will be sorelymissed.His son Chris followed Gregonto the footplate and iscurrently a driver at Bedford.Our thoughts go out to hiswife Denia, daughter Christine,son Chris, grandchildren and allhis family at this difficult and sadtime.bill Davies, RetiredMembers Section, bedfordtONY FIFIELD AMAN WItHOUtENEMIESIt is with great sadness that Ihave to write to inform you thatBrother Tony Fifield of theCroydon Tram/Light Rail No 1branch passed away in the earlyhours of Thursday 6 October.Tony was a bus driver beforehe joined First Tram Operationsas a Tram Driver in March 2000.In October that year he becamea Revenue Protection Inspector,before returning to driving inMarch 2007.A great football fan he could -and would! – talk at great lengthon the subject. Highly respected,I don’t believe there was oneperson who disliked Tony.He was diagnosed with throatcancer during the summer butthen passed away suddenly frompneumonia. He remainedcheerful to the end. He was just60 years old.We would like to extend ourcondolences to his partnerShirley and to his family andfriends.Robert Sambridge,Secretary, CtLR branch No 1
19NOVEMBER 2011 Branch NewsUpcoming events SWANSEA HIGH StREEtThe annual retired section Xmas social will take place onWednesday 14 December at the Cwmfelin Social Club,Approach Road, Manselton, SA5 9NR from 13:00 - 18:00.All welcome.The Saltley stalwarts on show!Long service recognisedat Saltleythe October meeting of theSaltley branch was pleased towelcome a good number ofcolleagues who were receivingASLEF service badges, and onemember – Malcolm Kirk - whowas retiring. We were fortunate tohave as our guest dave calfe, theEc member for our district, tomake the presentations.the people in the group shotall received recognition badgesfrom dave. they are, from left toright on the top row M. Akram (30year badge), tim Mudd (25 years),craig thompson (25 years), JimBall (45 years), Simon Black (20years), Jason Allen (20 years) andPhil Read (25 years). in the frontrow we have Malcolm Kirk (withhis retirement certificate), davecalf (Ec member), helen Landry(10 years), Bryan Andrews(10years) and Steve Beesley (10years).Malcolm Kirk is presented with acrystal glass by EC member DaveCalfe. We’ll miss him!congratulations to them all!We wish Malcolm all the best inhis retirement. Sadly he had toretire before he reached the ageof 65 on the grounds of health. hewas a driver for over 40 years.Adrian Harnett, Secretary,Saltley branchGarston may become LiverpoolGarston had their latest reunion on Saturday 24th September at theLMS institute Burnsall Street, Garston, Liverpool.the venue is well known to former members of the depot as it wasused as a meeting point after duty for many of the staff.Sadly a lot of ex-Garston staff did not turn up, although it was widelyadvertised.the night however, was a good entertaining evening and the peoplewho turned up had an enjoyable night.A few suggestions were made regarding future reunions. Onesuggestion is that rather than have a Garston reunion, we could make ita Liverpool reunion. this seems to be a generally acceptable idea assadly Garston staff are diminishing in numbers. A lot of the staff wentonto other depots throughout Liverpool, Warrington, crewe andMerseyrail, so i'll put the idea forward to see what can be done for nextyear.thanks to those who attended and made the night enjoyable.Chris todd GAtESHEAD 52A/NERSWAGATESHEAD 52A/NERSWA’s annual reunion will be held inthe Gateshead Railway Club Wellington Street Gatesheadon 17 November from 13:00. Buffet supplied. Old and newmembers welcome. HItHER GREEN REUNIONThe 2011 Hither Green Reunion will take place on 4November from 18:00 in the Beacon Road, SE13 Railwayand Social Club. Everyone connected with the depot, pastand present, is welcome.Congratulationsto BernieShergolds onhis retirementSalisbury train driver BernieShergolds retired on the 8October 2011 after nearly 50 yearson the Railway. Bernie started hiscareer with British Rail as a steamengine cleaner back in 1961,passing out as fireman in 1962. in1979 Bernie became a mainlinedriver, driving diesel locos such asthe 33, 47, and his favourite the50. he also drove the hampshireunits.Next, Bernie worked for SouthWest trains, driving 159, 158 and170s, on the main line. he did thisSaltley thanks to Steve JamesThe August meeting of the Saltleybranch was saddened to hear thatSteve James was standing down asthe Cross Country Health andSafety representative as he isretiring from the company at theend of the year after a period of illhealth.We would like to publicly thankSteve for all the outstanding workhe has done since he took up thejob in 1999. This included a stint asChair of the Safety AdvisoryCommittee. Steve worked tirelesslyand with great enthusiasm toBernie: 50 not out!for many years.Bernie's last position was as adepot driver with Salisbury traincare.congratulations - and a happyRetirement from everyone atSalisbury.ensure the health and safety of hiswork mates, all of whom wish him aspeedy recovery and hope to seehim soon at a branch meeting.Steve will be a hard act to followbut we are fortunate in havingJason Allen ready to step into hisshoes. Welcome – and good luck,Jason!And once again, many thanks toSteve for many years of selflessactivity on behalf of his fellowdrivers.Adrian Harnett, Secretary,Saltley branch
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