BUSH, BUSINESS BASH ASBESTOS VICTIMS’ COMPENSATION BILL By Mark Gruenberg, PAI, ILCA
George W. Bush and his big business backers teamed up to bash proposals for compensating the 300,000-600,000 victims of asbestos-caused cancer, saying legislation to help them would cost too much.
That drew AFL-CIO ire, since the federation has worked for at least a decade on plans to create a trust fund, financed by the asbestos producers and their insurers, to help pay for the victims’ pain, suffering and medical costs.
In a speech in Macomb County, Mich., home to a large group of asbestos victims, Bush blasted reliance on lawsuits to win money for their ills. But he proposed no solution, other than throwing the workers out of court.
"The volume of asbestos lawsuits is beyond the capacity of our courts to handle, and it is growing," Bush said. "More than 100,000 new asbestos claims were filed last year alone."