Union Takes Fight Against Staff Violence to London Assembly

The TSSA union has brought its campaign against violence towards transport workers to City Hall, urging the London Assembly to press Transport for London to strengthen protections for frontline staff and secure greater funding for the British Transport Police.

The issue was laid bare before the London Assembly Transport Committee during a three-hour evidence session, where TSSA representative Paul Feakes, a Revenue Control Inspector on London Underground, described his own experience of a serious assault at work. The union has been highlighting rising levels of abuse and aggression for months and last year published a report detailing the growing number of incidents.

Addressing Assembly Members, Paul explained that he had been “punched twice by a member of the public”, had “suffered concussion” and had been dragged across a station floor. He also told the Committee that staff can feel discouraged from intervening in incidents and raised concerns over what he sees as insufficient British Transport Police resources.

He questioned the support available to employees following assaults, arguing that reporting systems need improvement and suggesting victims are often left to navigate the aftermath alone. In his words, “it’s down to the victim of the assault to chase prosecution” as well as matters such as occupational health assessments, with “almost no support from the company on that side.”

Paul also urged senior managers to witness firsthand the conditions faced by lone workers during evening shifts. He described how groups 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.”

Turning to police funding, he added: “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.”

He concluded by challenging TfL’s stated zero-tolerance stance on abuse towards staff, telling the Committee: “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.”

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.”

Image: TSSA