Hundreds of TSSA (Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association) members at Southeastern have voted for strike action and action short of a strike, results reveal today (July 11).
The dispute with the train operator is over pay, job security and conditions including staff and passenger safety with the union also balloting members at Network Rail and other train companies across England .
TSSA is not naming dates for any industrial action today but says it will now consider next steps with workplace reps.
The ballot result at Southeastern was:
Prepared to take industrial action consisting of a strike
Yes – 73.9%
No – 26.1%
Turnout was 69.7%
Prepared to take industrial action short of a strike –
Yes – 85.1%
No – 14.9%
Turnout was 69.7%
TSSA General Secretary Manuel Cortes said: “Well done to all our members at Southeastern who took part in these ballots. This is a great result for our union and comes hard on the heels of similar votes at a raft of other train operating companies, with results expected from our Network Rail members imminently.
“The results demonstrate that our members are utterly determined to fight for their pay, jobs and conditions. They are right to do so amid the escalating Tory cost of living crisis and with a chaotic government hell bent on making swingeing cuts to our rail network while inflation rages.
“It would be unwise for any rail company to ignore the feelings of our membership. We will soon speak to our workplace Reps to consider next steps in the forthcoming days.
“If Ministers had any sense they would come to the table and sort this out, so we have a fair settlement for workers who were hailed as heroes in the pandemic.”
Southeastern – wholly owned by the Department for Transport (DfT) – runs train services between London and Kent, and parts of East Sussex, operating 1,600 trains a day serving 180 stations and covering over 500 miles of track.
Stations potentially impacted include London St Pancras, Victoria, Charing Cross and Cannon Street, as well as Dover Priory, Ramsgate, Ashford International, Dartford, Sevenoaks and many more.
TSSA has almost 350 members in a range of roles at Southeastern, including station staff, Control and admin and manager roles.
