Rail union TSSA staff are balloting for strike action and have alleged continuing abuse at union run by general secretary ‘with no rail experience’
Maryam Eslamdoust, the general secretary of the TSSA rail union, has been slammed by union staff and others for her attack on the GMB union, which is representing staff who are in dispute with the union over alleged bullying and abuse.
A new ‘MeTU’ video and statement released in February accused the new TSSA management of ‘summarily de-recognis[ing]’ the union’s Self-Organised Women’s Group, continuing a ‘culture of intimidation and bullying… and cronyism’ – and alleged that Eslamdoust’s election as general secretary had been “gerrymandered by an EC who were close to the old regime”. Eslamdoust attacked Skwawkbox during the general secretary election for scrutinising her and her supporters’ claims that she had ‘high level trade union experience’ despite what appears to be a lack of any relevant union – and indeed rail – experience, apart from a petition against the HS2 rail project, one on which TSSA members were working:
TSSA staff have, via their union GMB, reported:
an atmosphere of anxiety, hypervigilance and worry. The trust in the leadership…has completely collapsed…staff are once again feeling demoralised, ignored, distrusted and exhausted…in this toxic environment.
And now Eslamdoust has been slammed for an article in the Guardian in which she claims that the GMB is using ‘bullyboy tactics’ to try to take over TSSA – and attempts to blame the other union for her and her team’s alleged complete failure to take meaningful action to implement the recommendations of Baroness Kennedy’s report on widespread bullying and sexual harassment in TSSA under former general secretary Manuel Cortes.
The article appears to be a response to a reply, to an email from Eslamdoust and TSSA president Melissa Heywood, from the TSSA staff’s GMB reps accusing the TSSA’s senior management team (SMT) of ‘power hoarding, promoting falsehoods and attacking the integrity of reps despite attempts to resolve issues and avoid industrial action. The emailed reply also accuses Eslamdoust of refusing regular meetings with reps, cancelling staff meetings, denying an agreement to award staff a pay increase despite records of the agreement and adopting a vindictive approach to anyone who challenges her:
Staff and members have reacted to Eslamdoust’s Guardian article as her ‘losing the plot completely’ and the idea of the general secretary of one union calling for the derecognition of another as ‘barmy’ and an insult to staff preparing for a strike ballot.
Critics include former TSSA assistant general secretary Steve Coe and the GMB TSSA workers’ Twitter account. Coe reacted to Heywood’s sharing of the article by describing it as Eslamdoust ‘entering fantasy land’:
Coe and GMB4TSSA also criticised Heywood for ‘liking’ a call for derecognition of the GMB:
Heywood responded by claiming the GMB4TSSA images were ‘photoshopped’:
However, a video screengrab of the original post and interactions appears to support the GMB members’ claim:
Mariam Eslamdoust became general secretary of TSSA last year after TSSA’s executive asked all members to vote for her despite her lack of relevant experience. the GMB4TSSA group has said it wants members to vote for industrial action to fight ‘nepotism’ and ‘intimidation and fear:
Maryam Eslamdoust and Melissa Heywood were contacted for comment and provided with a draft of this article, but did not respond.
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