DEFENDING BUS WORKERS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: july/aug 2025 :: RMTnews 11 R MT research has revealed that more than three- quarters of frontline public transport workers were ready to take industrial action if employers continued to fail to protect them from escalating violence and abuse. The findings are part of a new union campaign ‘Action Against Assaults’, which aims to drive industrial and political action across all sectors to end violence on public transport to protect worker and passenger safety. The union’s latest survey of over 6,000 members across rail, bus, metro, maritime and underground sectors found that 63 per cent experienced workplace violence in the past year, and over 85 per cent of them were assaulted multiple times. Most cases involved verbal abuse, with many also facing threats, physical assaults, and harassment including racist and sexist abuse.  Notably, 61per cent of the most serious incidents occurred during lone working. The union has also cited British Transport Police figures showing a 47 per cent rise in violence and serious public order offences against rail staff between 2021 and 2024, alongside a five per cent year- on-year increase in work- related violence and aggression on the TfL network. RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said that members were being spat at, stabbed, threatened and abused on a regular basis while simply doing their jobs. “This crisis has been fuelled by rail employers seeking to de-staff the railway and failing to hold perpetrators to account.  “De-staffing of public transport also puts passengers at increased risk of assault and anti-social behaviour.  “Employers and the government must act now to end lone working, restore staff numbers, reverse BTP cuts and support the introduction of a specific offence for assaulting a public transport worker. “If our members do not see progress on this critical issue, then they are ready to escalate matters industrially, up to and including taking strike action,” he said. KEY DEMANDS INCLUDE: - Ending lone working and late-night vulnerabilities - Stronger legal protections, with a standalone offence for assaulting public transport workers - Ensuring adequate staffing levels and reversal of cuts to British Transport Police - Better reporting systems, support services, and full sick pay for victims - With 95 per cent of staff backing legal reform, 87 per cent calling for more staff on stations and trains, and nearly 80 per cent prepared to take industrial action, RMT is calling for urgent action to deal with staff assaults. RMT is backing a Parliamentary amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, tabled by Rachael Maskell MP, to legally protect all public transport workers from abuse and assault—similar to existing protections for emergency workers and proposed ones for retail staff. The union will also pursue the amendment in the House of Lords. • Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) had experienced workplace violence in the past year. • Of those, over 85 per cent had experienced violence multiple times. • The most common form of violence was verbal abuse (92 per cent), followed by threats of violence or assault (63 per cent). • Nearly a quarter had been physically assaulted. • Members also reported experiencing a wide range of abusive behaviour including being assaulted with weapons; racial harassment; sexual harassment or assault; LGBT+ harassment and being spat at or targeted with bodily fluids. • Of those who experienced workplace violence, 60 per cent were lone working at the time. • Nearly 60 per cent had witnessed violent and/or abusive behaviour targeted at passengers. • 75 per cent of those who experienced workplace violence reported the incident to their employer, but only a third of those were satisfied with their employer’s response to the incident. • Of those who did not report it, nearly 70 per cent said it was because such incidents are considered ‘part of the job’. • 70 per cent of RMT members thought that workplace violence had increased in the past year, and just three per cent thought it had decreased. • When asked why they thought violence on public transport was so prevalent, members cited reasons including a lack of BTP/police presence; a lack of action taken against perpetrators; an increase in anti-social behaviour in society more generally and lone working. • 95 per cent of public transport workers support the creation of a standalone offence of abusing or assaulting public transport workers at work. • 87 per cent of members working in rail, metro and London Underground said that an increase of staff at stations and on trains would help reduce violence. • Nearly 80 per cent of RMT members said they would be prepared to take industrial action over workplace violence, if they felt their employer was not doing enough to protect their safety. The survey of over 6000 public transport workers found that: