TSSA President, Treasurer and EC Election Results

Thousands of TSSA members have voted to elect the union’s new President and Treasurer. TSSA members have also voted to elect their Executive Committee representatives in three seats: London Transport, London South and North East.

The ballots closed on 19 May and were verified by the union’s democratically elected scrutineers on 24 May.

The full results are as follows:

President

Treasurer

London South EC Seat

London Transport EC Seat

North East EC Seat

Following a call for nominations, one nomination was received for the Irish EC seat, therefore Barry Love is elected unopposed.

One of the first recommendations in the Kennedy Report (the independent inquiry into allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying within TSSA) was for the membership to consider candidates for President and Treasurer roles particularly carefully in light of the report. It is clear from the engaged way in which members, Branches and Self Organised Groups participated in the election process that this recommendation was taken on board.

All newly elected Executive Committee members, and the new President and Treasurer, will receive governance training before taking up their seats in line with recommendations in the Kennedy Report.

Meet the Team:

Melissa Heywood has been elected as TSSA President. She will take office from 1 July 2023 and serve a two-year term of office.

Melissa has been a TSSA member since 2007 and served as an Executive Committee member for the Midlands since 2018. Melissa works as Route Operations Controller for East Midlands Railway. She is a Health and Safety Rep, Joint Safety Council Rep and a qualified tutor.

Commenting on her election, Melissa said "Thank you to all members who showed their faith in change by voting for me. Your vote demonstrates that you trust me to continue to progress and grow our Union, and I cannot thank you enough for that. I pledge to set plans for recruitment and retention. I will also focus on implementing an improved education programme for our Reps and on supporting local campaigns in your workplaces."

Mary Sithole has been elected as TSSA Treasurer. She will take office from 1 July 2023 and serve a two-year term of office.

Mary has been as TSSA member since 2002. Mary is currently an Equality Rep, Union Learning Rep and Health and Safety Rep in c2C and is the secretary of E-Mix (the Self-Organising Group representing Black, Asian and other Ethnic minorities members within TSSA).

Mary had the following message for members: ‘I deeply appreciate the vote of confidence that members have placed in me to preside as the Treasurer for our union’. 

‘This election gives me the opportunity to work with you all to continue to restore and rebuild our union and grow our membership. I am committed to continuing the work that is already underway in relation to implementing the recommendations in the Kennedy and Conley reports. Together we will create a safe, diverse and inclusive union’. 

‘May I take this opportunity to reaffirm my pledge to you. I am committed to working with our membership in an open and transparent manner to rebuild our union and ensure that TSSA activities and funds are managed responsibly and presented in a timely manner’.  

Paul Mangan has been re-elected as the London South Executive Committee Rep. Paul’s term of office will run from 1 July 2023 for three years.

Paul was first elected on to the Executive Committee in October 2022. Paul is the TSSA Network Rail Lead Health & Safety rep supporting reps in Wales, Western & Southern. Paul sits on the National H&S, Welfare Committee, & Network Rail TSSA H&S committee.

Catherine Poole has been elected as the London Transport Executive Committee Rep. Catherine will take office from 1 July 2023 for a three-year term of office.

Catherine is currently a company rep in Transport for London and Vice Chair of TfL Central Branch.

Jayson-Mark Gill has been elected as the North East Executive Committee Rep. Jayson-Mark will take office from 1 July 2023 for a three-year term of office.

Jayson has been a TSSA member for 16 years; he is currently a Learning Rep, Equality Rep and Company Rep for LNER.

Barry Love has been elected as the Executive Committee rep for Ireland. Barry will take office from 1 July 2023 for a three-year term of office.

Barry has been a TSSA member for almost 17 years, he has a keen interest in equality and diversity initiatives within Translink and is a member of the company LGBTQ+ group.