Shameful conduct continues by general secretary – backed by disgraced predecessor – who has lost all confidence of workers and keeps trying to go around them to end dispute over bullying and abuse
TSSA general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust – who was recommended by the union’s exec despite having no relevant experience and has already lost a unanimous vote of no confidence among union staff – and her management team have launched yet another smear campaign against the union’s staff, on the day TSSA workers go on their first picket after an overwhelming vote in favour of strike action over renewed bullying and abuse.
Workers have complained that they are being targeted if they speak out about abuse and that the union, which was already in crisis after Eslamdoust’s predecessor was sacked over the Kennedy Report’s revelations of widespread bullying and sexual harassment by senior management, has descended again into bullying and intimidation under Eslamdoust. The union’s executive member for Scotland has already resigned in protest at the way she and her team are running it.
The new general secretary has been slammed by TSSA workers for trying to bypass them in the dispute and instead both attacking the GMB union that represents them at work, and trying to negotiate a settlement directly with GMB head Gary Smith instead of with the workers and their union reps. She also sent an email to TSSA members accusing staff of being greedy and unreasonable – to which a London branch responded with a unanimous vote of no confidence in her.
And on the morning of their first day of strike action, TSSA has again attacked the workers, their reps and their union, in a list of comments rightly described by left analyst Damian Willey as ‘the most ridiculous statement I’ve ever seem a union put out’. The attack again bypasses workers, ignores their concerns and treats the dispute as a GMB manoeuvre instead of industrial action by disgusted staff:
TSSA staff reps already dismissed the ACAS talks as a farce in which Eslamdoust showed bad faith and refused to engage with the legitimate concerns raised by workers about the way they are being treated.
TSSA staff reps have pointed out that the disgraced Cortes appears to be backing Eslamdoust’s conduct:
The TSSA’s statement met with a disgusted response, with most commenters backing the workers, including a former TSSA assistant general secretary:
According to the workers’ reps, Eslamdoust broke the cardinal rule of trade unions and crossed the striking staff’s picket line:
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Eslamdoust should, in future, be referred to as nothing else but “The SCAB eslamdoust”.