Striking rail union ‘lied about boss retiring and kept him on full pay despite sexual harassment allegations’

• Report found Labour-affiliated TSSA union has ‘sexist’ and ‘mafia-like’ culture  

A striking rail union with a ‘mafia-like’ culture lied about its boss retiring and kept employing him on full pay – despite facing allegations of sexual harassment according to an independent report commissioned by the union.

The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) announced in October that Manuel Cortes, the former general secretary, was stepping down.

The 55-year-old had been facing accusations of unwanted touching and demanding that women he worked with kiss him.

At the time, Mr Cortes’s then deputy Frank Ward said: ‘I wish him a long and healthy retirement.’

But the Daily Mail has learnt that Mr Cortes remained employed by the union and continued to receive his six-figure remuneration package.

He wasn’t suspended until today, along with four other senior staff named in a damning report this week which found that the Labour-affiliated union has a ‘sexist’, ‘misogynistic’ and ‘mafia-like’ culture.

It came as Labour faced calls to dis-affiliate itself from the union and remove the TSSA representative that sits on the party’s national executive committee. This governing body shapes the party’s policies and strategy.

The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) announced in October that Manuel Cortes, the former general secretary, was stepping down

Asked whether the TSSA had lied about Mr Cortes retiring, a union source told the Daily Mail: ‘Well if you say one thing and do another, it’s a lie isn’t it.’

They confirmed that Mr Cortes ‘disappeared’ following the retirement announcement, but remained employed by the union.

It has chosen not to sack him and he will continue to receive his salary while suspended, according to union sources.

No one has yet been sacked despite Baroness Helena Kennedy KC’s bombshell report uncovering ‘appalling incidents’.

The report was commissioned by the union last summer to look into allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

The inquiry was asked to find out if sexual harassment, discrimination or bullying had happened at the TSSA and whether bosses enabled it.

The allegations included staff or members suffering ‘inappropriate touching, sexual assault, coercive behaviour, violent language’ and ‘humiliation and denigration of staff’.

It found a ‘toxic’ culture was enabled by senior leaders – including Mr Cortes – through ‘wilful blindness, power hoarding and poor practices’.

The inquiry found that women joining the union were warned ‘never to be alone’ with him and that he ‘had a habit of drinking too much and becoming overfamiliar with female staff’.

Baroness Kennedy’s report added: ‘It would be a mistake to think that sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying are resolved by his departure.’

The inquiry was launched last summer after a video was published in which former TSSA organiser Claire Laycock made allegations against Mr Cortes and two others.

The 31-page report confirmed: ‘There has been sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying, and the leadership has enabled this.’

The findings about the TSSA’s culture included:

‘Drinking in the daytime, in working hours’

‘Summoning a drug dealer to a party attended by staff’

‘Persistent insistence to women, particularly younger women, that they stay ‘for just one more drink’ to the point where women cannot get home without help.’

No one has yet been sacked despite Baroness Helena Kennedy KC’s (pictured) bombshell report uncovering ‘appalling incidents’

‘Persistent attention to young women, violent, sexualised language, belittling women for their clothes, their general appearance.’

‘Specific examples I heard of non-consensual sexual behaviour included the sliding of a hand in between the upper thighs of a woman from behind, sliding a finger up and down the thigh of a young woman, squeezing breasts, repeatedly groping a woman from behind.’

‘Gaslighting and victim blaming of women who have tried to speak up.’

Incidents of ‘inappropriate touching’ had been taking place since 2011, the report said.

Tory MP Greg Smith, who sits on the Commons transport committee, said: ‘It’s clear that in the Labour party money buys you a seat at the table of the national executive committee.

‘They claim to be squeaky clean, but when they have representatives from organisations like this around their top table they need to have a long hard look in the mirror.’

The TSSA has donated £350,000 to Labour over the last five years.

The TSSA represents white collar rail workers and has joined the RMT and Aslef unions in several waves of strikes which have crippled the railways since last summer.

Labour and Mr Cortes did not respond to requests for comment.

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