TSSA union hit – again – by bullying and victimisation complaints, as GMB rep suspended

The management team of the TSSA rail staff union has been accused of attempting to ‘silence dissent’ by suspending a GMB union rep – and of ‘presiding over a culture of bullying, harassment, and trade union victimisation’.

TSSA: here we go again

Previous complaints against the same representative in question had already been dismissed after an independent investigator found them to be without foundation. The GMB says that it ‘contends that those complaints and this current suspension represent an attempt to smear and silence their representative’.

TSSA has faced ongoing scrutiny over its internal culture, culminating in the Kennedy Report, which found that bullying, discrimination, and harassment were pervasive at the trade union under former general secretary Manuel Cortes – and since his replacement Maryam Eslamdoust, who appears to have had no relevant experience when she took over, moved in workers have complained that the culture has continued or even worsened.

Eslamdoust was recommended for the job by close associates of Cortes, with the elected executive allegedly being told there would be trouble if she was not rubber-stamped as the ‘exec’s preferred candidate.

GMB is currently in dispute with TSSA over its failure to implement the report’s recommendations, as well as its failure to treat staff fairly, with dignity and respect. An indicative ballot of GMB members working for TSSA saw a unanimous vote in favour of taking industrial action in support of the dispute if necessary, mirroring a similar unanimous strike ballot last year.

Numerous accusations

Since Eslamdoust took over, she and her team have:

• been repeatedly accused by union staff, who have been in dispute with their employer for more than a year, of bullying and using anti-union tactics against them – and of crossing their picket line during strike action
• been accused of paying off disgraced former managers of the union she claimed she was going to sort out after years of sexual harassment and mismanagement under her predecessor Manuel Cortes
• suspended senior union figures not in Eslamdoust’s camp just after they won key elections or awards from the union
• lost a unanimous vote of no confidence among TSSA staff and another unanimous vote by one of TSSA’s biggest member branches
• tried to bypass TSSA staff in their dispute by going straight to the GMB union that represents them at work
• attacked the GMB in the national press – and attacked striking staff in an email to members
• ‘summarily derecognised’ the TSSA’s women’s group, which accused Eslamdoust and her allies of perpetuating the abuse and harassment that characterised the regime of her predecessor Manuel Cortes
• barred delegates and members from last year’s TSSA annual conference and blocked a no-confidence motion brought against her (Eslamdoust already lost two confidence vote in TSSA’s branch in South London and among TSSA staff)
• attacked delegates at the 2025 conference as ‘parochial’ for wanting to raise these issues
• accused of concocting excuses to suspend opposing candidates and re-run elections for the positions of president and treasurer after Eslamdoust’s allies lost heavily

Members and staff say that far from putting right the sexual harassment, bullying, misogyny and abuse under Cortes, which were exposed in a searing report by Baroness Helena Kennedy, Eslamdoust and her allies have continued and even escalated the war on the union’s staff.

‘Staff morale couldn’t be much lower’

On the latest dispute, GMB Regional Organiser Andrew Harden said:

Staff morale at TSSA couldn’t be much lower – there is a deep distrust of leadership, and we have members reporting that they fear for their jobs.

Suspending our rep is designed to intimidate and provides a clear sign that management would rather silence dissent than deal with our members’ concerns.

We are calling for the suspension to be lifted, and for meaningful engagement to implement the recommendations of the Kennedy Report. If TSSA fail to do so, we will have no choice but to formally ballot for strike action.

Featured image via the Canary