Transport Salaried Staffs' Association

The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) is a trade union for workers in the transport and travel industries in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head office is in London, and it has regional offices in Bristol, Derby, Dublin, Manchester, York and Glasgow.

TSSA
Full nameTransport Salaried Staffs' Association
Founded1897
Members17,856[1]
AffiliationTUC, ICTU, STUC, CSEU, ETF, Labour Party[2]
Key peopleMick Carney, president
Manuel Cortes, general secretary
Office location2nd Floor, 17 Devonshire Square, London EC2M 4SQ
CountryUnited Kingdom, Ireland
Websitewww.tssa.org.uk

TSSA has approximately 17,856 members in the UK and Ireland.[3] While principally a union for people in the railway industry, the effect of the nationalisation and subsequent privatisations following the Second World War has meant that it has members working for railway companies, shipping companies, bus companies, travel agencies, airlines, call centres, and IT companies.

Organisation
TSSA's former headquarters in London

Individual members are allocated to branches. Historically branches were organised geographically and by grade, e.g. Liverpool; Dublin No. 1; Crewe No. 4 Technical; Crewe Management Staffs (the separate branches for different grades of staff were so that people with grievances against their managers wouldn't find those same managers as members of their branch). In Ireland, branches are still organised on this basis, but in the UK starting in 1998 there was a reorganisation such that members of most branches are employed by a single company e.g. Virgin Midlands - this was required in the fragmented world of the privatised railway because the private companies would not allow access for non-employees onto their premises.

Branches are in turn allocated to divisions - there are 14 geographical divisions, plus one for London Transport. Each division has a Divisional Council which meets at least twice a year, and members in each division elect a member of the Executive Committee (EC). EC members are elected for a three-year term, subject to a maximum of two consecutive terms of office (but can stand again after 3 years off the committee). The Executive Committee meets approximately ten times a year in London and continuously during the four-day annual conference held each May. The EC is responsible for the efficient running of the union, the employment of staff (of whom there are about 70), the oversight of the union's finances, and the implementation of decisions of Annual Conference.

The Annual Conference is the supreme decision-making body of the union. Each branch may send one delegate to the Conference, unless a branch has more than 200 members, in which case it has two delegates. Each branch can submit two motions and two amendments to motions to the Conference Agenda, and once every five years can submit two amendments to the union's Rule Book.

Organisation in Ireland is slightly different. The whole of Ireland forms one Division. As trade union law in the Republic of Ireland forbids trade unions being run by people not resident on the island of Ireland, the EC and Annual Conference cannot directly control the association's activity in the republic as they do in Britain. Instead, the Irish Divisional Council is constituted as the Irish Committee and chaired by the EC member for Ireland, and it operates in a similar manner to the EC. There is a biennial Irish Conference of delegates from all the Irish branches, to set policy solely relating to Ireland. When Irish branches want the Annual Conference to do something, motions to Annual Conference are normally phrased as 'requests' that the Irish Committee consider doing something rather than as the more normal 'instructions' that the Executive Committee do something.

History

The union was founded in Sheffield in 1897 as the National Association of General Railway Clerks, although it was a narrow decision to found the union. The railway companies were strongly opposed to trade unions and two earlier attempts to form a clerks' union had failed and, discouraged, the organisers decided by a majority of only one vote to try a third time - this time successfully. In 1899 it was renamed the Railway Clerks' Association (RCA), and in 1951 it adopted its current name.[4]

The early years were difficult. The third General Secretary, John Stopford-Challener, shot himself in Paris's Bois de Boulogne in 1906; it was only after his suicide that it was discovered that he had absconded with the union's money. After this came the era of A.G. Walkden, who as General Secretary for 30 years led the union to the peak of its influence; the head office in London, built in the early 1960s, was named after him. The railway companies refused to recognise the trade unions until after the strike of 1919, but after that time membership rose steadily, to a peak of some 91,500 in the early 1950s. The subsequent closure of uneconomic railway lines, the Beeching axe, and especially the computerisation of railway offices led to large scale reductions in the eligible membership. Membership was around 75,000 in 1970, 71,000 in 1980, and 39,000 in 1990. There was a rapid loss of around 25% of its membership in the mid to late 1990s because the grades of staff covered by the union were the ones hardest hit when British Rail was broken up from 1994 onwards; however the Executive Committee adopted a policy of seeking to vigorously recruit additional members particularly in those areas such as travel agencies which had not been the principal focus of the union in the past. This has led to more stable membership figures, including a small increase at the turn of the century.[5]

The union has been involved in at least one London Underground strike, between 6 and 7 September 2010.[6]

In July 2015, TSSA endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election.[7] TSSA National Political Officer, Sam Tarry spearheaded Corbyn's second leadership campaign.[8]

In 2018, preparatory work for the HS2 railway meant that the TSSA had to vacate its head office since the 1960s, at Walkden House in Melton Street, adjacent to London’s Euston Station, and moved to a new head office in Devonshire Square, near Liverpool Street Station.

Election results

From 1918 until 1992, the union sponsored a large number of Labour Party candidates, many of whom won election.

ElectionConstituencyCandidateVotes% sharePosition
1918 general electionEnfieldWilliam E. Hill6,17637.52[9]
Manchester BlackleyArnold Townend3,65925.02[9]
St Pancras South EastHerbert Romeril2,18916.94[9]
WatfordGeorge Lathan4,95225.42[9]
Wolverhampton WestAlexander Walkden10,15842.22[9]
YorkThomas Harry Gill4,82218.03[9]
1922 by-electionWolverhampton WestAlexander Walkden13,79945.12[10]
1922 general electionBoltonSamuel Lomax20,55916.13[11]
Cirencester and TewkesburyWilliam Robert Robins9,19535.82[11]
EnfieldGeorge Lathan9,82045.62[11]
High PeakFrank Anderson7,69827.12[11]
Manchester BlackleyArnold Townend5,58026.83[11]
St Pancras South EastHerbert Romeril5,60930.52[11]
Wolverhampton WestAlexander Walkden15,19046.12[11]
YorkThomas Gill10,10629.62[11]
1923 general electionCirencester and TewkesburyWilliam Robert Robins7,84933.82[11]
High PeakFrank Anderson5,68420.83[11]
St Pancras South EastHerbert Romeril7,86641.61[11]
Sheffield ParkGeorge Lathan9,05039.42[11]
StockportArnold Townend16,34018.05[11]
1924 general electionBlackburnThomas Gill24,31721.84[12]
Edinburgh WestGeorge Mathers9,60333.12[12]
ForfarshireCharles Gallie3,73622.93[12]
Heywood and RadcliffeAlexander Walkden15,30744.42[12]
St Pancras South EastHerbert Romeril10,46345.52[12]
Sheffield ParkGeorge Lathan11,57645.22[12]
StockportArnold Townend21,98624.83[12]
1925 by-electionStockportArnold Townend20,21936.51[13]
1929 general electionBlackburnThomas Gill35,72325.02[14]
Bristol SouthAlexander Walkden23,59156.51[14]
Edinburgh WestGeorge Mathers15,79538.61[14]
ForfarshireCharles Gallie5,25725.03[14]
Hackney CentralFrederick Charles Watkins12,46237.31[14]
St Pancras South EastHerbert Romeril13,17347.91[14]
Sheffield ParkGeorge Lathan20,30451.41[14]
StockportArnold Townend30,95527.41[14]
1931 general electionBlackburnThomas Gill25,03016.64[15]
Bristol SouthAlexander Walkden17,17439.12[15]
Edinburgh WestGeorge Mathers12,70428.82[15]
Hackney CentralFred Watkins9,29528.52[15]
St Pancras South EastHerbert Romeril8,68432.12[15]
Sheffield ParkGeorge Lathan15,78337.42[15]
StockportArnold Townend23,35017.03[15]
1935 general electionAshton-under-LyneFred Simpson14,14050.21[16]
Battersea SouthHerbert Romeril15,82142.72[16]
Bristol SouthAlexander Walkden22,58650.41[16]
CarlisleArnold Townend13,95641.02[16]
East Ham NorthThomas Burden14,76249.12[16]
Hackney CentralFred Watkins15,32251.61[16]
HalifaxArthur Longbottom21,47139.52[16]
LinlithgowshireGeorge Mathers20,90554.11[16]
Sheffield ParkGeorge Lathan21,15351.51[16]
WhitehavenFrank Anderson14,79448.91[16]
1936 by-electionClay CrossGeorge Ridley24,29075.11[17]
1945 general electionHackney CentralHenry Hynd14,81067.21[18]
Kensington NorthGeorge Rogers16,83856.61[18]
LinlithgowshireGeorge Mathers24,76264.11[18]
Liverpool WaltonJames Haworth18,38543.61[18]
South East EssexRay Gunter25,58153.81[18]
SowerbyJohn Belcher17,71050.81[18]
Swansea WestPercy Morris18,09858.01[18]
WellingboroughGeorge Lindgren22,41657.71[18]
WhitehavenFrank Anderson18,56861.11[18]
1950 general electionAccringtonHenry Hynd23,29548.81[19]
CarlisleAlex Hargreaves19,03146.51[19]
DoncasterRay Gunter24,44950.91[19]
Kensington NorthGeorge Rogers21,61550.71[19]
LanarkTom Steele19,20549.12[19]
Liverpool WaltonJames Haworth21,98341.42[19]
PudseyGeoffrey Collings18,20541.22[19]
Rutland and StamfordTom Bradley13,71241.32[19]
Stoke on Trent NorthAlbert Davies36,89671.61[19]
Swansea WestPercy Morris26,27353.81[19]
WellingboroughGeorge Lindgren21,64047.11[19]
1950 by-electionWest DunbartonshireTom Steele20,36750.41
1951 general electionAccringtonHenry Hynd24,80252.31[20]
CarlisleAlex Hargreaves19,64846.81[20]
ChelmsfordJames Haworth23,77545.02[20]
DoncasterRay Gunter24,62149.62[20]
Kensington NorthGeorge Rogers22,68653.01[20]
PudseyGeoffrey Collings20,78246.32[20]
Rutland and StamfordTom Bradley15,12745.92[20]
Stoke on Trent NorthAlbert Davies36,69271.41[20]
Swansea WestPercy Morris26,06152.21[20]
WellingboroughGeorge Lindgren24,11352.41[20]
West DunbartonshireTom Steele21,79951.31[20]
1955 general electionAccringtonHenry Hynd22,50251.51[21]
Bolton WestJames Haworth20,01444.62[21]
CarlisleAlex Hargreaves19,70149.52[21]
DoncasterRay Gunter22,93848.32[21]
Kensington NorthGeorge Rogers20,22653.91[21]
Oldham EastCharles Mapp18,80543.22[21]
Rutland and StamfordTom Bradley14,85645.72[21]
Swansea WestPercy Morris22,64751.21[21]
WellingboroughGeorge Lindgren22,74551.01[21]
West DunbartonshireTom Steele21,85452.31[21]
1959 general electionAccringtonHenry Hynd22,24250.71[22]
CarlisleAlex Hargreaves19,95047.62[22]
Kensington NorthGeorge Rogers14,92542.81[22]
Oldham EastCharles Mapp19,32944.41[22]
Preston SouthTom Bradley18,93546.32[22]
SouthwarkRay Gunter25,03664.01[22]
WellingboroughGeorge Lindgren22,35849.32[22]
West DunbartonshireTom Steele22,10552.51[22]
1962 by-electionLeicester North EastTom Bradley11,27441.51
1964 general electionAccringtonHenry Hynd20,56149.71[23]
Kensington NorthGeorge Rogers15,28349.51[23]
Leicester North EastTom Bradley15,49446.41[23]
Oldham EastCharles Mapp18,11245.41[23]
SouthwarkRay Gunter22,42668.81[23]
WellingboroughHarry Howarth19,59242.31[23]
West DunbartonshireTom Steele21,07950.81[23]
1966 general electionKensington NorthGeorge Rogers16,01254.81[24]
Leicester North EastTom Bradley17,00754.01[24]
SouthwarkRay Gunter21,85573.61[24]
WellingboroughHarry Howarth24,70552.41[24]
West DunbartonshireTom Steele21,63652.31[24]
1970 general electionDerby SouthWalter Johnson19,40754.41[25]
Leeds South EastStan Cohen10,93062.71[25]
Leicester North EastTom Bradley15,01648.81[25]
SouthwarkRay Gunter16,83467.31[25]
Feb 1974 general electionCroydon CentralRichard Rosser20,03938.02[26]
Derby SouthWalter Johnson26,61347.41[26]
Hendon SouthRichard Hadley11,08827.73[26]
Leeds South EastStan Cohen17,82753.11[26]
Leicester EastTom Bradley23,47447.71[26]
Oct 1974 general electionDerby SouthWalter Johnson26,34251.01[27]
Hendon SouthRichard Hadley11,90332.92[27]
Leeds South EastStan Cohen17,16061.21[27]
Leicester EastTom Bradley20,68844.81[27]
1979 general electionDerby SouthWalter Johnson26,94550.01[28]
Leeds South EastStan Cohen15,92156.31[28]
Leicester EastTom Bradley23,84446.91[28]
1983 general electionSouth DerbyshirePeter Kent17,29629.22[29]
1987 general electionEast LothianJohn Home Robertson24,58348.01[30]
Swansea WestAlan Williams22,08948.51[30]
1992 general electionEast LothianJohn Home Robertson25,53746.51[30]
Swansea WestAlan Williams23,23853.01[30]

Office holders

General Secretaries
Manuel Cortes, General Secretary since 2011, speaking at the 2016 Labour Party Conference
1897: Charles Bassett-Vincent[31]
1898: John Hereford[31]
1898: F. Parrish (acting)[31]
1899: John Stopford Challener[31]
1906: William J. West (acting)[31]
1906: Alexander Walkden[31]
1936: William Stott[31]
1940: Charles Gallie[31]
1947: Fred Bostock[31]
1948: Percy Heady (acting)[31]
1949: George Thorneycroft[31]
1953: Bill Webber[31]
1963: John Bothwell[31]
1968: Percy Coldrick[31]
1973: David Mackenzie[31]
1977: Tom Bradley (acting)[31]
1977: Tom Jenkins[31]
1982: Bert Lyons[31]
1989: Richard Rosser[31]
2004: Gerry Doherty
2011: Manuel Cortes[32]

Presidents
1897: J. Batty Langley[33]
1899: W. D. Leaver[33]
1900: Fortescue Flannery[33]
1906: William J. West[33]
1908: George Lathan[33]
1912: Herbert Romeril[33]
1916: W. E. Williams[33]
1919: Harry Gill[33]
1932: Fred Simpson[33]
1937: Frederick Watkins[33]
1943: Percy Morris[33]
1953: James Haworth[33]
1956: Ray Gunter[33]
1964: Tom Bradley[33]
1977: Walter Johnson[33]
1981: Jim Mills[33]
1987: Geoff Henman[33]
1993: Brenda Hanks [33]
1997: David Horton[33]
2001: David Porter[33]
2005: Andy Bain
2011: Harriet Yeo
2013: Mick Carney

Treasurers

Until 1906 the General Secretary also controlled the unions' funds. John Stopford-Challener's embezzlement proved that this was an unwise arrangement and the office of National Treasurer was then instituted.

1906: J. M. Roberts[34]
1920: W. E. Williams[34]
1927: Arnold Ernest Townend[34]
1934: Frederick Watkins MP[34]
1937: Percy Morris[34]
1943: James Haworth MP[34]
1953: Ray J. Gunter MP[34]
1956: Lord Lindgren[34]
1961: Tom G. Bradley MP[34]
1965: Walter Johnson MP[34]
1977: Jock Newall (acting)[34]
1977: Jim Mills[34]
1981: Stanley Cohen MP[34]
1984: Geoff Henman[34]
1987: Brenda Hanks[34]
1993: Peter Holloway (acting)[34]
1993: David Horton[34]
1997: David Porter[34]
2001: Annie Breen[34]
2004: Amarjit Singh (acting)[34]
2004: Andy Bain[34]
2005: Harriet Yeo[34]
2011: Mick Carney
2013: Andy Bain
2015: Jason Turvey

References
  1. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/868169/376T_2018.pdf
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/868169/376T_2018.pdf
  4. Malcolm Wallace (1996). "Birth of the Union". Single or Return. TSSA. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
  5. Malcolm Wallace; Dave Hillam (2003) [1996]. "RCA/TSSA Branches & Membership". Single or Return. TSSA. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
  6. http://www.24dash.com/news/local_government/2010-09-06-safety-row-erupts-as-millions-prepare-for-tube-strike-travel-chaos#.U2UMEEPmZhE Archived 2014-05-03 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "TSSA backs Jeremy Corbyn for Labour leader and Angela Eagle for deputy". Transport Salaried Staffs' Association. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  8. Dale, Ian (24 September 2016). "The Top 100 People on the Left List 2016". Ian Dale. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  9. Wallace, Malcolm (1996). Single or return. Transport Salaried Staffs' Association. p. 130.
  10. Wallace, Malcolm (1996). Single or return. Transport Salaried Staffs' Association. pp. 194–195.
  11. Wallace, Malcolm (1996). Single or return. Transport Salaried Staffs' Association. pp. 162–165.
  12. "Labour's candidates". Manchester Guardian. 11 October 1924.
  13. Wallace, Malcolm (1996). Single or return. Transport Salaried Staffs' Association. p. 165.
  14. "List of Labour Candidates and Election Results, May 30th, 1929". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 24–44. 1929.
  15. "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, October 27, 1931". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 11–27. 1931.
  16. "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, November 14, 1935". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 8–23. 1935.
  17. "Parliamentary by-elections". Report of the Annual Labour Party Conference: 38–45. 1937.
  18. Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 232-248.
  19. "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, February 23rd, 1950". Report of the Forty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 179–198. 1950.
  20. "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, 25th October, 1951". Report of the Fiftieth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 184–203. 1951.
  21. Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 255–275.
  22. Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 179–201.
  23. Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 158–180.
  24. Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 308–330.
  25. Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 289–312.
  26. Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 371–390.
  27. Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 391–411.
  28. Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 406–431.
  29. Wallace, Malcolm (1996). Single or return. Transport Salaried Staffs' Association. pp. 445–446.
  30. Wallace, Malcolm (1996). Single or return. Transport Salaried Staffs' Association. p. 470.
  31. Malcolm Wallace; Dave Hillam (2003) [1996]. "General Secretaries of the Association". Single or Return. TSSA. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
  32. "Gibraltarian wins second term at head of UK transport union". Gibraltar Chronicle. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  33. Malcolm Wallace; Dave Hillam (2003) [1996]. "Presidents of the Association". Single or Return. TSSA. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
  34. Malcolm Wallace; Dave Hillam (2003) [1996]. "Treasurers of the Association". Single or Return. TSSA. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
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