TSSA takes stop violence against transport workers campaign to London Assembly 

TSSA has taken its campaign to stop violence against transport workers to the London Assembly – calling for Transport for London (TfL) to do more to help workers who have been victims, adhere to policies of zero tolerance of abuse and aggression towards staff, and for more funding for British Transport Police (BTP).  

 The union has actively been campaigning on the issue of violence against transport workers for many months and last year launched a report highlighting the growing number of incidents. TSSA’s case was highlighted to the London Assembly Transport Committee by Paul Feakes, a TSSA rep on London Underground who has himself been the victim of a serious assault. 

Paul, a Revenue Control Inspector, told the Committee during a three-hour session that when he was assaulted, he had been “punched twice by a member of the public”, had “suffered concussion” and had been dragged across the station floor. He also made the point that colleagues seem to be discouraged by their TfL line managers from intervening and pointed to a lack of BTP funding – another issue TSSA actively campaigns on. 

He told the Committee there needed to be a better system in place for staff to report incidents and questioned why, in his experience, TfL were not doing more to assist employees when they have been the victim of assaults or threats. As Paul put it - “it’s down to the victim of the assault to chase prosecution” and other matters such as occupational health assessments, with “almost no support from the company on that side.” 

 Paul also called on TfL management to themselves see what it is like for staff who are working alone in the evening at a station, describing how a group of young adults can make ticket halls “scary places, especially if you are on your own. There and instances where people have been assaulted, attacked, abused – police have been called and nobody came.” 

 He went on - “if I was a senior manager at TfL I would be begging the powers that be for more funding for British Transport Police. The situation has got to a ridiculous level. The amount of pressure each individual (BTP) officer is under – it's not fair on them, it's not fair on us and in the end it’s not fair on the public.” 

 His final plea was that TfL make good on their stated policy of zero tolerance of abuse and aggression towards staff, saying: “there very much is a tolerance for it, it’s well above zero. I wouldn’t put a figure on it but yes there is a high tolerance for workplace violence and aggression within Transport for London.”  

 Commenting, TSSA General Secretary, Maryam Eslamdoust said: “The evidence our rep, Paul Feakes, gave to the London Assembly must be acted on at pace because it underscores the need for urgent action. 

 “What we heard perfectly demonstrated not only the holes in the TfL operation when it comes to their duty of care to staff, but also how much we need a much better funding settlement for BTP so that transport workers and the travelling public know they are safe when making journeys.” 

 You can view the full proceedings here