TSSA Ballot Results - Avanti West Coast

TSSA members in station grades at Avanti West Coast have voted overwhelmingly for strike action and action short of a strike in results revealed today. 

The dispute with the mainline train operator is over pay, job security and conditions and is the first set of results for the union which is also balloting members at Network Rail and train companies across England (see notes). 

 TSSA members serve the public at stations all along the West Coast Mainline. They help to keep stations safe and running smoothly, dealing with customers, tickets and carrying out station platform duties.  

TSSA has collective bargaining rights for all station and revenue protection staff at Avanti West Coast. Avanti operates passenger train services and stations including from London Euston to Birmingham, Crewe, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow. 

 The ballot result was as follows: 

 Prepared to take industrial action consisting of a strike -  

Yes - 86.1 per cent  

No - 13.9 per cent  

Turnout was 66.3 per cent 

Prepared to take industrial action short of a strike -  

Yes - 91.6 per cent  

No -  8.4 per cent  

Turnout was 66.3 per cent 

Commenting, union General Secretary, Manuel Cortes said: “Well done to all our members who took part in this ballot. This is a great result for our union. 

“The overwhelming votes among station staff for strike action and action short of a strike demonstrate that our members are determined to fight for their pay, jobs and conditions. They are right to do so amid the escalating cost of living crisis and with a government hell bent on making swingeing cuts to our rail network. 

“This is a strong outcome and one the company can ill afford to ignore. We will now speak to our workplace Reps and consider next steps in the forthcoming days. 

“Ministers should take note - the ballot result at Avanti is only the beginning. Our union is balloting members across almost another dozen train companies and Network Rail. If they had any sense they would come to the table and sort this out, so we have a fair settlement for workers who were hailed as heroes in the pandemic." 

 *TSSA is currently balloting members over strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over jobs, pay and conditions at several rail companies – Network Rail, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, Northern, LNER, Southeastern, Great Western Railway, C2C, Greater Anglia and TransPennine Express.