Asbestos victims oppose trust-fund plan
Several local asbestos victims and their families are urging senators to vote this week against a proposed federal asbestos trust fund, which they describe as a corporate bailout that would leave victims without help.
Debate on the legislation is set to begin Monday. The bill would remove damage claims of workers and others injured by exposure to asbestos from the courts, sending them instead to a privately financed $140 billion trust fund for adjudication and payment.
"It's a misguided idea. There are no provisions at this time who would pay into the fund and how the payouts would happen," said Ellen Greene of De Pere, whose father, Frank Besaw, a Green Bay paper mill worker, died last year of a cancer linked to asbestos exposure.
She met last week with representatives of Democratic Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.
If Senate bill 852 passes, compensation claims would have to start all over, Greene said.
"Compensation is only part of the issue. I think we deserve our day in court to hold people accountable for their actions," Greene said.
Gary Allen, director of the Northeast Wisconsin Building and Construction Trades, and a former asbestos worker, urged Kohl to vote against the bill.
Allen said he could attest to the unfairness of trying to get compensation for an asbestos injury through large group programs.
Years ago Allen signed on to a group program with a legal firm that was supposed to litigate claims.
"The only one that was fairly compensated was the legal firm," Allen said in a letter to Kohl.
The bill calls for nine levels of compensation, depending on the seriousness of a claimant's condition. Payments would range from $25,000 for breathing impairment to $1.1 million for mesothelioma victims. Medical monitoring is provided for people who have been exposed to asbestos but show no symptoms.
Besaw, an employee at Northern Paper Mills in Green Bay, from 1946 to 1968 and at James River in Oregon from 1968 to 1987, worked with asbestos insulation used to cover the paper machines, turbines, and pipes. He also handled asbestos blocks and cements. He died at 79 of mesothelioma.
Wisconsin Citizen Action, which became involved through organized labor unions, also opposed the bill.
The bill also has been attacked by insurers and some of the businesses that would be compelled to pay for the trust, which argue that the funding burden is unfairly distributed and that the bill does not assure closure of the issue, The Washington Post reported.
Debate on the legislation is set to begin Monday. The bill would remove damage claims of workers and others injured by exposure to asbestos from the courts, sending them instead to a privately financed $140 billion trust fund for adjudication and payment.
"It's a misguided idea. There are no provisions at this time who would pay into the fund and how the payouts would happen," said Ellen Greene of De Pere, whose father, Frank Besaw, a Green Bay paper mill worker, died last year of a cancer linked to asbestos exposure.
She met last week with representatives of Democratic Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.
If Senate bill 852 passes, compensation claims would have to start all over, Greene said.
"Compensation is only part of the issue. I think we deserve our day in court to hold people accountable for their actions," Greene said.
Gary Allen, director of the Northeast Wisconsin Building and Construction Trades, and a former asbestos worker, urged Kohl to vote against the bill.
Allen said he could attest to the unfairness of trying to get compensation for an asbestos injury through large group programs.
Years ago Allen signed on to a group program with a legal firm that was supposed to litigate claims.
"The only one that was fairly compensated was the legal firm," Allen said in a letter to Kohl.
The bill calls for nine levels of compensation, depending on the seriousness of a claimant's condition. Payments would range from $25,000 for breathing impairment to $1.1 million for mesothelioma victims. Medical monitoring is provided for people who have been exposed to asbestos but show no symptoms.
Besaw, an employee at Northern Paper Mills in Green Bay, from 1946 to 1968 and at James River in Oregon from 1968 to 1987, worked with asbestos insulation used to cover the paper machines, turbines, and pipes. He also handled asbestos blocks and cements. He died at 79 of mesothelioma.
Wisconsin Citizen Action, which became involved through organized labor unions, also opposed the bill.
The bill also has been attacked by insurers and some of the businesses that would be compelled to pay for the trust, which argue that the funding burden is unfairly distributed and that the bill does not assure closure of the issue, The Washington Post reported.
posted by Chris Placitella | 9:32 AM
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