The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) is a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

for workers in the transport and travel industries in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Its head office is in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and it has regional offices in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

and

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. TSSA has approximately 18,000 members in the UK and Ireland. While principally a union for people in the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

industry, the effect of the

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

and subsequent

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

s following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

has meant that it has members working for railway companies, shipping companies, bus companies, travel agencies, airlines, call centres, and IT companies.

History

The union was founded in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

in 1897 as the National Association of General Railway Clerks, although it was a narrow decision to found the union. The railway companies were strongly opposed to trade unions and two earlier attempts to form a clerks' union had failed and, discouraged, the organisers decided by a majority of only one vote to try a third time - this time successfully. In 1899 it was renamed the Railway Clerks' Association (RCA), and in 1951 it adopted its current name. The union has been involved in at least one

London Underground strike London Underground strikes are an intermittent part of life in the capital of the United Kingdom. Described as "one of Britain's most strike-prone industries", the London Underground has been subject to travel disruption due to industrial action ...

, between 6 and 7 September 2010. In July 2015, TSSA endorsed

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election. TSSA

National Political Officer National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

Sam Tarry Samuel Peter Tarry (; born 27 August 1982) is a British former politician who was the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Ilford South from 2019 United Kingdom general election, 2019 until 2024 United Kingdom ge ...

spearheaded Corbyn's second leadership campaign. In September 2021, TSSA announced that it was in talks about merging the union with the North American Boilermakers Union with the viewpoint of completing the merger by 1 July 2022. In January 2022, union representatives voted by 88% to agree to the merger, however the Boilermakers withdrew from the merger later in the year. In early 2022, the union was granted an injunction on an employee who has accused Manuel Cortes, the general secretary of the TSSA of sexual harassment and of bullying by senior staff members. Cortes claimed that he had no memory of the evening due to excessive drinking. The injunction forbade the woman from talking about the alleged harassment and bullying. Later that year an inquiry was opened into the union, led by

Helena Kennedy Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws (born 12 May 1950), is a Scottish barrister, Television presenter, broadcaster, and Labour Party (UK), Labour member of the House of Lords. She was Principal (academia), Principal of Mansfield Col ...

KC, to examine allegations of sexual harassment and bullying towards women within the union, with Manuel Cortes resigning with immediate effect a month later. The Kennedy inquiry reported in February 2023 that the union had seen a culture of sexual harassment and sexual assault over the course of several years along with coercive behaviour. Kennedy called for several senior leaders of the union to resign and that external auditors should be brought in to examine the union's finances. An earlier critical report which concluded that equality, diversity and inclusion objectives were not being met was not made public until February 2023. In May 2023 TSSA members elected a new President, Melissa Heywood, and Treasurer, Mary Sithole. This was the first time TSSA had elected women to both National Officer positions at the same time. Later in 2023 TSSA members elected a new General Secretary, Maryam Eslamdoust, who was the first woman and the first person of colour to hold the post.

Office holders

General Secretaries

:1897: Charles Bassett-Vincent :1898: John Hereford :1898: F. Parrish (acting) :1899: John Stopford Challener :1906: William J. West (acting) :1906: Alexander Walkden :1936: William Stott :1940: Charles Gallie :1947: Fred Bostock :1948: Percy Heady (acting) :1949: George Thorneycroft :1953: Bill Webber :1963: John Bothwell :1968: Percy Coldrick :1973: David Mackenzie :1977: Tom Bradley (acting) :1977: Tom Jenkins :1982: Bert Lyons :1989: Richard Rosser :2004: Gerry Doherty :2011: Manuel Cortes :2022: Frank Ward (acting) :2023: Peter Pendle (Interim Joint General Secretary) :2023: Maryam Eslamdoust

Presidents

:1897: J. Batty Langley :1899: W. D. Leaver :1900: Fortescue Flannery :1906: William J. West :1908: George Lathan :1912: Herbert Romeril :1916: W. E. Williams :1919: Harry Gill :1932: Fred Simpson :1937: Frederick Watkins :1943: Percy Morris :1953: James Haworth :1956: Ray Gunter :1964: Tom Bradley :1977:

Walter Johnson Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 – December 10, 1946), nicknamed "Barney" and "the Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and Manager (baseball), manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Ba ...

:1981: Jim Mills :1987: Geoff Henman :1993: Brenda Hanks :1997: David Horton :2001: David Porter :2005: Andy Bain :2011: Harriet Yeo :2013: Mick Carney :2023
Marios Alexandrou
:2023
Melissa Heywood

Treasurers

:1906: J. M. Roberts :1920: W. E. Williams :1927: Arnold Townend :1934: Frederick Watkins MP :1937: Percy Morris :1943: James Haworth MP :1953: Ray Gunter MP :1956: Lord Lindgren :1961: Tom G. Bradley MP :1965:

MP :1977: Jock Newall (acting) :1977: Jim Mills :1981: Stanley Cohen MP :1984: Geoff Henman :1987: Brenda Hanks :1993: Peter Holloway (acting) :1993: David Horton :1997: David Porter :2001: Annie Breen :2004: Amarjit Singh (acting) :2004: Andy Bain :2005: Harriet Yeo :2011: Mick Carney :2013: Andy Bain :2015: Jason Turvey :2019: Al Stoten :2023: Nicola Jukes :2023
Mary Sithole

References

External links

TSSA British website

TSSA Irish website

or Return'' - the official history of the TSSA

Catalogue of the TSSA archives
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collect ...

{{Authority control 1897 establishments in the United Kingdom Railway unions in the United Kingdom Organisations based in the London Borough of Camden Trade unions established in 1897 Transport trade unions in Ireland Trade unions affiliated with the Labour Party (UK) Trade unions based in London Trade unions affiliated with the Trades Union Congress