Welcome to Industrial Injuries

Compensation culture has handed a boost to the dying National Union of Miners with sick miners being misled into handing over millions of pounds by a firm of solicitors.

The mining industry had almost collapsed after the 1984 strike. By 1998, the roll was down to 13,000 from 171,000 at the start of the dispute. With each pit closure, membership plunged. Today, Britain has only eight deep mines in production and 9,300 working miners.

However, due to compensation claims, membership of the NUM rose from 13,045 to 24,195 between 1998 and 2001 and now stands at 15,320.

In 1997 and 1998, British Coal was found negligent in relation to vibration white finger and respiratory diseases and now more than 780,000 claims have been received. The liabilities were transferred to the DTI under the terms of the Coal Industry Act 1994. Payment schemes have included a fee to solicitors for handling successful claims since 1999.

Miners were told that to make a claim for industrial disease they needed to go through the NUM's solicitors Raleys. They were obliged to become "limited members" of the union and advised that the NUM would fund their legal claims in return for their paying part of their eventual compensation to the union. As well as paying an administration fee, claimants have also paid backdated membership subscriptions, up to a maximum of £300.

Many did not realise that they might have got a better deal elsewhere and trusted a letter sent by Arthur Scargill in 1999 which said that their claim would be safe with Raleys. They were unaware that they could have approached any solicitor and that nothing would have been deducted from their award as the Government was effectively paying the costs.

Raleys denies misleading claimants when telling them that their claims were benefiting from an NUM "funding arrangement. " Jonathan Markham of Raleys said this should not have been interpreted as meaning that the NUM was providing financial backing for the claim. "If the union can get a benefit for its members without the union having to give up any of its money then it's going to do that. It's understandable that they would want to keep that money for when they really think that it's right that they spend it. And if they can get the lawyers to pay for things instead of them then all well and good - they are doing a good job. "

Raleys have so far been paid £53 million of public money for their work on the cases. The NUM has banked an estimated £10 million from the compensation scheme. NUM leaders have refused to comment.

Kevin Barron, MP for Rother Valley described the union's arrangement as "a scam from day one." He said, "The NUM has not put a penny into fighting these cases and they have raked in millions of pounds for doing very, very little. "

John Mann, MP for Bassetlaw, said last night that there could be no justification for Raley's actions. He demanded that all the NUM money "be paid back immediately." There have been 11,279 vibration white finger cases registered by Raleys, with none resulting in court action. Of Raleys' 44,642 respiratory disease claims, only eleven have led to litigation.