TSSA ballots results at rail operator - Southeastern

TSSA ballots results at rail operator - Southeastern

Hundreds of TSSA members at Southeastern have voted for strike action and action short of a strike in results revealed today.

The dispute with the train operator is over pay, job security and conditions with the union also balloting members at Network Rail and other train companies across England (see notes).

TSSA is not naming dates for any industrial action today but will now consider next steps with workplace reps.

The ballot result at Southeastern was as follows -

Prepared to take industrial action consisting of a strike -

Yes – 73.9%

No – 26.1%

Turnout was 69.7%  

Prepared to take industrial action short of a strike -

Yes – 85.1%

No – 14.9%

Turnout was 69.7%

Commenting, TSSA General Secretary Manuel Cortes said: “Well done to all our members at Southeastern who took part in these ballots. This is a great result for our union and comes hard on the heels of similar votes at a raft of other train operating companies, with results expected from our Network Rail members imminently.

“The results demonstrate that our members are utterly determined to fight for their pay, jobs and conditions. They are right to do so amid the escalating Tory cost of living crisis and with a chaotic government hell bent on making swingeing cuts to our rail network while inflation rages.

“It would be unwise for any rail company to ignore the feelings of our membership. We will soon speak to our workplace Reps to consider next steps in the forthcoming days.

“If Ministers 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."

Impact at Southeastern

Southeastern - wholly owned by the Department for Transport (DfT) - runs train services between London and Kent, and parts of East Sussex, operating 1,600 trains a day serving 180 stations and covering over 500 miles of track.

Stations potentially impacted include - London St Pancras, Victoria, Charing Cross and Cannon Street, as well as Dover Priory, Ramsgate, Ashford International, Dartford, Sevenoaks and many more.

TSSA has almost 350 members in a range of roles at Southeastern, including station staff, Control plus some admin and manager roles.

ENDS

Notes to editors

*TSSA is currently also balloting members over strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over jobs, pay and conditions at West Midlands Trains, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia ,TransPennine Express.

Members have voted for strike action at LNER, c2c, East Midlands Railway, CrossCountry, in station grates at Avanti West Coast and for action short of a strike at West Midlands Trains and Northern.

*TSSA is an independent trade union for the transport and travel industries. We have thousands of members right across the UK and Ireland, working for the railways and associated companies, including Network Rail which is responsible for the day-to-day maintenance of the rail network.