Union wins back £23m

Unison, Britain's biggest union, said that in 1994 it won £23m compensation for 4,200 members injured through employers' negligence. Among the largest awards were £115,000 to May Williams, 57, a Worcester care auxiliary who had to retire early aft er a fall on an ungritted icy path, and £87,000 to a Huddersfield nurse assaulted by a patient while on duty.

Alan Jinkson, general secretary of the public-sector workers' union, said yesterday: "Employers must take their responsibilities towards their workers much more seriously and ensure that working conditions are as safe as possible.