AT THIS year’s Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) Women’s Conference, RMT will be advocating on key issues relevant to our female members’ everyday experiences in the workplace.

One issue that has sadly become all too common an occurrence on our trains and stations, is the unacceptable rise in staff assaults.

Our Action Against Assaults motion demands stronger protections for workers and passengers facing rising levels of violence on public transport, especially women and girls.

This intervention is part of our national union’s campaign on Action Against Assaults, launched earlier this year in response to the increasing prevalence of violent and abusive behaviour across the UK’s public transport network.

RMT represents thousands of front-line workers, many of them women, who face threats, harassment and assault simply for doing their jobs.

Our analysis of the level and effect of assaults on rail staff is stark.

In a recent survey of women public transport workers, it was revealed that 70 per cent had experienced workplace violence in the past year. Of those, more than 85 per cent said it happened more than once.

The most common forms of abuse reported were verbal attacks, followed by threats of physical violence. Alarmingly, over 20 per cent reported being sexually harassed at work over a 12-month period.

One key factor making workers more vulnerable is lone working, something that came up repeatedly in the survey responses.

Nearly 60 per cent of those who experienced violence were working alone at the time. It is a recurring issue that has gone unaddressed for too long.

Three-quarters of the women we surveyed (75 per cent) said they believe violence on the job is getting worse. This confirms what our members have been telling us for years, that the situation is deteriorating, and the risks are very real.

A BBC report earlier this year showed a 37 per cent rise in reported sexual offences on the railway in England, Scotland and Wales since 2015.

And it is not just transport workers feeling unsafe.

The Scottish government’s own 2023 research into the safety of women and girls on public transport found that passengers feel significantly safer when staff are present, whether that is at stations, in ticket offices, or onboard trains.

One of the key recommendations from that study was to increase staffing across Scotland’s transport system.

However, this is not what is taking place.

And to make matters worse, the British Transport Police (BTP), has faced a major funding shortfall this year, leading to station closures and reduced officer presence, including in Scotland.

These cuts put both passengers and staff at risk.

RMT is campaigning for those cuts to be reversed and for a proper funding settlement that ensures a consistent and visible policing presence on Scotland’s railways.

But policing levels alone are not enough.

We need to see an end to lone working, especially in roles that are public facing.

We have campaigned for stronger legal protections for transport workers, similar to those already in place for retail and emergency service workers in Scotland.

This has led to active lobbying the Scottish government to take action.

Ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections next year, we are seeking clear manifesto commitments from parties to adopt our proposals and take workplace violence on public transport seriously.

Another injustice for our women members in our workplaces, is where there is no statutory right to reasonable adjustments for breastfeeding.

This forces mothers to give it up earlier than planned or delays their return to work.

We want to see employers use some common sense by providing a clean, warm, private room (not the toilet) for expressing milk, a secure, clean fridge to store expressed milk and a break allowance for breastfeeding mothers.

Our members have a right to feel safe and valued at work.

Women and girls have a right to travel without fear.

And the public deserves a transport system where safety is a priority not an inconvenient afterthought.

Eddie Dempsey is the general secretary of RMT.