TSSA calls for rail workers’ protections at Labour Conference

Delegates at Labour’s Annual Conference in Liverpool have heard TSSA’s General Secretary, Maryam Eslamdoust, call for a raft of protections for workers in the ongoing transition to Great British Railways.

TSSA has long campaigned for an end to the failed era of rail privatisation, but in a joint motion with ASLEF and Unison, TSSA’s General Secretary Maryam Eslamdoust, outlined the union’s concerns.

These centre around job losses in train companies and Network Rail, as well as fears of redundancies at the freight giant, DB Cargo. All of this comes amid rising levels of threats and violence towards staff and passengers on the railways.

The speech followed an announcement to delegates from Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, in which she promised the government “will consider public ownership of trains” - which the union has also long demanded.

Responding to Alexander’s new stance on rolling stock companies, Maryam Eslamdoust said: “Private rolling stock companies have been given a licence to print money for far too long, with Roscos making astronomical profits.

“The Transport Secretary has made a welcome step in the right direction on this, and we look forward to reading the details about how this would work. Our view is that it will always be in the public interest to have publicly owned trains.”

Addressing Conference, in support of Composite Motion 7, Maryam Eslamdoust said: “Conference, the Labour Party works best when it works with the trade unions.
 
“That is why TSSA was proud to be there at the inception of Great British Railways, working in partnership with other rail unions and our party to produce the GB Rail white paper.

“Those proposals, with some changes, were later integrated into our manifesto in the form of the Get Britain Moving agenda – a plan to take the train operating companies into public ownership, combining them with Network Rail to create Great British Railways.

“A plan that resonated with the public, passengers, and all those who work on the railways. And with the passing of the Passenger Rail Services (Public Ownership) Act, we saw a Labour Government begin to deliver.   
 
“But Conference, somewhere along the way we have seen that partnership drift. At Network Rail, our members face 870 job cuts and thousands more taken out of the organisation.
 
“At DB cargo, the potential for job cuts and asset stripping loom on the horizon. At the infrastructure companies, cuts to renewals budgets have meant further job losses.
 
“And Conference, we have seen redundancies being handed out at Train Operating Companies like sweets, as their functions are merged with Network Rail in anticipation of GBR.
 
“The workers that should be at the heart of the transition, laid off, and told to go home before we even know what GBR will look like or what skills and experience will be needed for it to succeed.

“And while jobs have been lost - and as BTP budgets are stretched to breaking point, with our members facing job cuts - transport workers have also faced record levels of violence and abuse.
 
“They’ve faced uncertainty about the future of their pensions and travel facilities in the transition. Or how they will exercise their rights at work through new collective bargaining agreements.
 
“Conference, this year we’re in Liverpool with a new Prime Minister and a renewed sense of hope. But for my members, many uncertainties remain. So, now is the time to rebuild that partnership with working people, return hope again to those who keep Britain moving, and deliver a just transition to a GBR that works for everyone.
 
“Conference, please support composite motion 7.”