Former TSSA rail union assistant general secretary Steve Coe, who was expelled by the union’s current boss Maryam Eslamdoust for whistleblowing, is suing Eslamdoust after she emailed angry members claiming that he was expelled because he posed a risk to women.
Eslamdoust took over the union supposedly to put it right after her predecessor Manuel Cortes left in disgrace over sexual harassment and bullying claims — but promptly ‘de-recognised’ the union’s women’s section that had led the outcry that deposed Cortes. Now, in response to members’ anger, she has emailed them telling them that Coe was exposed for:
persistent breaches of TSSA standards, including behaviour that created risk and concern for women members.
Eslamdoust then denied that she had “intended her comments to be read as accusing Mr Coe of sexual harassment”.
Steve Coe — who has been an outspoken critic of and whistleblower about the allegations of abuse and bullying that have let to TSSA members engaging this month in their second all-out strike and work-to-rule in just a few months — responded in a social media post:
Following the decision of the TSSA Executive Committee to expel me from membership, the TSSA General Secretary Maryam Eslamdoust has sent a libellous letter to many TSSA members which amongst other things accuses me of “persistent breaches of TSSA standards, including behaviour that created risk and concern for women members”.
Interesting then that Ms Eslamdoust then denied to The Telegraph that she intended her comments to be read as accusing me of sexual harassment!
He went on to confirm that he had initiated legal action against Eslamdoust for defamation:
I am now pursuing a libel claim against Maryam Eslamdoust.
Coe is also taking TSSA to the union regulator over his expulsion, which he says denied natural justice as well as breaking union law.
Rail union—Self-inflicted chaos
Maryam Eslamdoust was recommended to TSSA members by the union’s executive despite an allegedly complete 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:
Strike action
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 or other issues since June 2024. It has previously said that it does not comment on staff matters.
Featured image via Skwawkbox
