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RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march/april 2025 :: RMTnews
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Over 200 delegates attended
RMT’s health and safety
conference in York which
opened with a sombre and
moving speech of
remembrance from Christine
Willett whose long-time
colleague, Jorge Ortega, was
killed at work at Ilford Station
in December.
Jorge was investigating a
noise on the platform when he
was fatally assaulted. Christine
spoke of her ‘dear friend’ and
told of how so many people
had been moved to come and
pay their respects to Jorge,
one of whom had remarked
that it “feels like Ilford has lost
its heart”.
There followed a minute’s
silence for Jorge and for all
workers who had been
assaulted in the line of their
work.
In the light of the tragedy,
Paddington No. 1 and
Piccadilly and District Line
West branches called for the
union to launch a campaign
urging employers to adopt a
minimum set of safety
standards for the duty of care
of transport staff.
Rotimi Ajayi, Paddington
spoke about the increasing
number of threats, harassment,
abuse and assaults that
members are facing and
explained the need for an end
to lone working.
He called for a place of
safety for workers, for
perpetrators to be barred from
using public transport and for
the mandatory sentencing of
people convicted of assaulting
transport workers.
Ross Marshall, Central Line
West recalled violent incidents
at Harrow-on-the-Hill and
Baker Street and told of how
members are being assessed
for PTSD following assaults at
work.
He said that the issue was
getting worse due to cuts in
staffing and the number of
BTP personnel.
“This has exacerbated the
situation and further planned
staffing cuts will lead to the
Night Tube no longer meeting
its minimum policing
requirements,” he said.
Many members added their
experiences of assault or
abuse to the debate, and it
was clear that there was a
groundswell of opinion that, as
Ross Marshall put it, ‘enough
is enough’.
DEMAND HEALTH
AND SAFETY AT WORK
RMT health and safety conference pays tribute to RMT
member killed on duty, Jorge Ortega