As Skwawkbox reported on Monday, TSSA rail union general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust went to the Guardian to attack the GMB union. GMB represents TSSA staff in their workplace, but Eslamdoust wants the GMB to prefer her feelings to their members’ needs. Now the GMB has hit back.

Eslamdoust is despised by TSSA members and staff, who accuse her of bullying, victimisation of staff and representatives, and of anti-union tactics when they organise against her. Branches have voted overwhelmingly for motions of no confidence in her. Reps in the union’s biggest branch, Network Rail, this week voted unanimously for Eslamdoust’s removal.

In her Guardian interview, Eslamdoust claimed that she was being targeted by the GMB because she is female. She demanded an end to GMB’s ‘constant interference’. Nine out of ten TSSA staff say working for TSSA under her is “toxic” and damaging their mental health. Staff have suffered a 22% real-terms pay cut. But Eslamdoust’s gender is the issue.

GMB strikes back

Now, in a letter seen exclusively by Skwawkbox, GMB senior organiser Lisa Bangs takes both Eslamdoust and the paper to task for their smears and shoddy reporting. Writing to Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner and readers’ editor Elisabeth Ribbans, Bangs tells them (emphases added):

Dear Elisabeth and Katherine, ​

I write in response to an article published by Rowena Mason on Monday 19 January concerning allegations against GMB made by Maryam Eslamdoust, General Secretary of TSSA. ​

For background, on 12 January the General Secretary of TSSA instructed her IT Department to prevent the Executive Committee from receiving emails from a GMB Officer. ​ This censorship was a reaction to the GMB Officer sharing with the Committee the results of the Staff Survey, referred to in your article, which revealed 90% of members consider TSSA to be a psychologically unsafe place to work. ​ Not only was the General Secretary seeking to censor the information that could be received by the democratically elected committee she also copied in the GMB Officer to demonstrate her power over him. ​ (All verifiable through emails)

Obviously GMB raised this conduct with the TSSA Executive Committee but is awaiting a response. ​ It seems though that Maryam Eslamdoust contacting your reporter to claim unfair treatment from GMB last year is her reaction to her actions being exposed. ​ Despite GMB providing this context, it has been missed from the coverage and so it unfortunately appears that the General Secretary is being allowed to use The Guardian as a vehicle to deflect from her poor conduct and leadership. ​

In relation to the complaint cited in the article I personally responded to this on 28 October, and no mention was made that the complaint was dealt with. ​ Further, the complaint submitted to GMB stated “He raised his voice and pointed his finger” and in relation to a comment made it was alleged “This was perceived as a personal and professional threat”. ​ (Verifiable through original email) Compare and contrast this with what is claimed in your article about the same official where it reads, he was “shouting at me, shouting at my assistant general secretary, wagging his finger in our faces and threatening to damage our reputations if we didn’t comply to his demands”. ​ This is dishonest of the General Secretary and in taking her claims on face value you have published sensationalist hyperbole designed to further harass and intimidate the GMB Officer who has been representing the serious concerns of TSSA members. ​

GMB members are upset that your reporter didn’t seek to get any response or accountability from the General Secretary on the results of the staff survey which included comments such as “the stress comes through the constantly erratic and bullying behaviour of the General Secretary and AGS” and “am having counselling, I don’t sleep properly and it is because of work. ​ I am constantly in a state of fear“. ​ One comment about the General Secretary and the Assistant General Secretary was “They do as they please, they abuse their positions, they make lives miserable. ​ They bully, coerce, and fail on all levels to communicate with staff” and yet the reporter focussed the article on how the General Secretary is unhappy working at TSSA!

The General Secretary of the TSSA is the most powerful person in the organisation and must be transparent and accountable. ​ Unfortunately, discussions around the challenges being faced by her staff are simply dismissed as misogynistic and there is no recognition they are because she holds a position of authority which could deliver change. ​

The misrepresentation of GMB in your article, when full details of all correspondence were available, is inexcusable and without correction allows a misleading narrative to be perpetuated by someone seeking to evade responsibility and accountability. ​ Despite what is being portrayed by the TSSA General Secretary, this is not an inter-union dispute. ​ It is an industrial dispute caused through the failure of an Employer to implement recommendations and ensure staff work in a positive, safe and healthy environment. ​

Yours sincerely,

Horrific track record

The Guardian article was the second time Eslamdoust has gone to the paper to accuse union reps of victimising her by prioritising their members’ wellbeing.

Since taking over TSSA despite an absence of relevant experience, 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.

And there’s more…

She then responded to further industrial action last autumn with an administrative attack that:

• Denied staff their usual self-certified sickness absences, new requests for annual leave or TOIL [time off in lieu].
• Deducted pay the month after any day on which strike action was taken.
• Forced staff to come into the office who would usually work remotely.
• Forced staff to ‘clock in’ by filling in timesheets that were not usually required and listing their activities.

Union insiders pointed out that these imposed terms violated union law by:

• Victimising staff for undertaking a union action.
• Breaching the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act, which says that employers must still pay sick pay to employees off sick during a strike — they can investigate if they suspect the sick leave was not genuine but cannot arbitrarily withhold.
• Adding unreasonable extra work for staff even without ‘ASOS’ (action short of a strike) by demanding work logs.
• Varying custom and practice in the workplace.

Union staff and members are now organising to demand her suspension, investigation and, ultimately, removal.

TSSA’s press office has not responded to a Skwawkbox media enquiry since 2024.

Featured image via the Canary

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