TSSA conference abandoned

The recent TSSA rail workers’ union conference in Torquay was overshadowed by a debate about 17 branches having their delegate credentials removed by the union’s general secretary Gerry Doherty.

He used the union’s Rule 42d, which requires branch returns to be up to date two weeks prior to conference, to exclude branches from attending.

The executive committee voted to overturn this decision, and delegates at conference later also voted by 40 to 30 to allow those barred to attend.

The general secretary upheld his decision and staff did not give out credentials to the barred branches.

The barred delegates agreed to sit out conference for an afternoon to try to give more time to find a compromise

The conference carried out perhaps a quarter of the agenda. The executive committee voted to close the conference early. About 140 reps met following the aborted conference.