Exclusive: expelled member is taking TSSA rail union to regulator

With the staff of the TSSA rail union again on strike over what they allege has been longstanding bullying, intimidation, victimisation and anti-union behaviour by TSSA general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust’s management, the union has expelled one of Eslamdoust’s most fearless critics, retired TSSA assistant general secretary (AGS) Steve Coe – for going on the record to blow the whistle with allegations substantiating the complaints of staff and members.

Coe has already confirmed that he will be appealing the decision to the union’s next conference, but he has today told Skwawkbox that he is taking legal action by referring his expulsion to the Certification Officer (CO), the union regulator responsible for ensuring that unions fulfil their legal responsibilities.

Former TSSA rail union assistant general secretary speaks out

Coe told Skwawkbox:

They’ve not reckoned with the fact that expelling me will certainly attract the attention of the Certification Officer, because he (Stephen Hardy) is very hot on union expulsions and won’t be terribly impressed that expelling me without investigation fits with its definition of natural justice and I will be lodging a formal complaint with him.

The Kennedy report in particular referred to things that the current regime is doing the exact opposite of. [Disgraced former TSSA general secretary Manuel] Cortes was hardly a model general secretary but the current regime is arguably a lot worse.

The CO’s guidance on what it considers natural justice is clear that anyone subjected to union disciplinary measures must be fully informed about the nature of the ‘charges’ and given an opportunity to put his own case, which Mr Coe says he has not:

1. Natural justice is a broad concept and its guiding principles have been established through case law rather than being set out in legislation. Case law has established that while the requirements of the rules of natural justice may vary according to the facts and circumstances, in the case of a decision to discipline or expel a trade union member the following principles, relating primarily to the way that a decision was arrived at, apply:-
a) The Member must be given notice of the charges against him;
b) The Member must be given an opportunity to state his case;
c) The Union must act honestly and in good faith, and without bias.

Utter chaos

Maryam Eslamdoust supposedly took over to sort out the union following the sacking of disgraced former general secretary Manuel Cortes, after being recommended to members by the TSSA executive despite a lack of relevant experience, after threats that they had “better select Eslamdoust or [they’d] have to answer to [close Cortes confidante Andi Fox”. The union has since fallen – many say it has been dragged – into complete chaos.

Eslamdoust and her team have:

• been repeatedly accused by union staff, who have been in dispute with their employer for more than a year, of bullying and using anti-union tactics against them — and of crossing their picket line during strike action
• been accused of paying off disgraced former managers of the union she claimed she was going to sort out after years of sexual harassment and mismanagement under her predecessor Manuel Cortes
• suspended senior union figures not in Eslamdoust’s camp just after they won key elections or awards from the union
• lost a unanimous vote of no confidence among TSSA staff and another unanimous vote by one of TSSA’s biggest member branches
• tried to bypass TSSA staff in their dispute by going straight to the GMB union that represents them at work
• attacked the GMB in the national press – and attacked striking staff in an email to members
• ‘summarily derecognised’ the TSSA’s women’s group, which accused Eslamdoust and her allies of perpetuating the abuse and harassment that characterised the regime of her predecessor Manuel Cortes
• barred delegates and members from last year’s TSSA annual conference and blocked a no-confidence motion brought against her
• attacked delegates at the 2025 conference as ‘parochial’ for wanting to raise these issues

Spiralling

Members and staff are now on strike because they say that far from putting right the sexual harassment, bullying, misogyny and abuse under Cortes – exposed in a searing report by Baroness Helena Kennedy – Eslamdoust and her allies have continued and even escalated the war on the rail union’s staff.

A staggering 86% of staff voted in favour of strike action, on a high turnout of 73% – the second time this year that TSSA staff have taken industrial action over bullying and intimidation and a lack of fair process. The previous strike action saw the rail union close for fifteen days with picket lines outside TSSA’s central London office – which Eslamdoust was accused of crossing. The strike is the latest instalment in the chaos and bitterness in the TSSA that have also seen the management cancelling and delaying election results for senior roles that went against Eslamdoust’s allies.

TSSA has not responded to media enquiries from Skwawkbox about these issues since June 2024. It has previously said that it does not comment on staff matters.

Featured image via YouTube screenshot/TSSA Union