T&G wins £72m fighting for members' rights

The Transport & General Workers Union (T&G) won more than £72m in accident and injury compensation for its members last year.

This takes the total won since the union was founded to more than £1.65bn.

Tony Woodley, T&G general secretary, said the figures show how effective the union had been in standing up for its members.

"Every penny of those awards has gone to the members involved and quite rightly so," said Woodley. "People need to know that, if they have an accident at work or suffer an injustice, there is someone to fight for them, win and not charge them. There's a sharp contrast here with some of the so-called 'no-win, no-fee' firms which sometimes make substantial deductions from settlements."

In 2004, the T&G was involved in 12,289 cases which led to total settlements of £72.4m.