FATAL ASSAULT OF RMT MEMBER JORGE ORTEGA

Our ref: HSR

Head Office Circular NP/299/24

13^th December 2024

To: The Secretary

ALL BRANCHES

REGIONAL COUNCILS

 

Dear Colleague

 

FATAL ASSAULT OF RMT MEMBER JORGE ORTEGA

 

I regret to advise you that our member Jorge Ortega of South East Essex Branch, a Customer Experience Assistant for MTR Elizabeth Line sadly passed away on Friday 6^th December following a severe assault at Ilford train station on Wednesday 4^thDecember. 

 

The assault is being dealt with by the authorities, with an arrest being made by the British Transport police.

 

On behalf of the union, I issued a public statement following the assault and then a further statement on Saturday 7^th December expressing our deep sadness at the passing of our member and stating that the whole union sends its condolences to family, friends and colleagues at this awful time.

 

I have also said we will keep a close eye on legal proceedings and will comment further in due course when it is appropriate.

 

The union is in contact with our member’s family and a number of condolences and messages of sympathy have been received and will be placed on file.

 

I have received a report from the lead officer which is placed on file. 

 

In his report, your lead officer advocated the following immediate remedial actions:

 

• A release for all reps before Christmas (to possibly meet with the NEC) and to ensure our members are fully aware that RMT is actively engaged in the process and any safety changes stemming from it.
• An immediate reconvening of the Joint Safety Committee (JSC) meeting, which was postponed last Wednesday following the incident.
• An end to lone working. While this incident did not involve lone working, the presence of staff to raise the alarm is critical, emphasizing the need for visible staff in addition to the increased BTP presence at the site until December 15^th.
• The immediate cessation of the unacceptable practice of making staff stand outside at bus stops.
• A comprehensive review of available places of safety.

 

Additionally, your lead officer acknowledged this as an industry-wide issue, and visible staff contribute to a safer station environment.

 

I have also received the following resolutions:

 

South East Essex Branch 

 

That the RMT South East Essex branch calls for MTR Elizabeth Line management to convene an immediate emergency meeting of our health and safety, local and company council reps, across all functions, to meet in order to address our members serious concerns with regard to their safety at work and, to set up regular staff surgeries and a working group to meet regularly to ensure that these matters are properly addressed. 

 

This branch calls for all Gateline staff to be given suitable accommodation as an immediate and appropriate place of safety and that any Transport Safety Enforcement staff presence be adequately resourced and equally allocated across all stations.

 

East London Branch

 

RMT East London Rail Branch have been left heartbroken and appalled at the attack which led to the death a friend and colleague of many of the Branch, MTR Elizabeth Line Customer Experience Assistant, Jorge Ortega, on Wednesday 4^th December at Ilford Station. We are struggling to come to terms with what was a senseless and unprovoked attack on one of our own and are truly inconsolable at what has taken place. Having noted the motion that was sent in by South East Essex Branch which stated “That the RMT South East Essex branch calls for MTR Elizabeth Line management to convene an immediate emergency meeting of our health and safety, local and company council reps, across all functions, to meet in order to address our members serious concerns with regard to their safety at work and, to set up regular staff surgeries and a working group to meet regularly to ensure that these matters are properly addressed. This branch calls for all Gateline staff to be given suitable accommodation as an immediate and appropriate place of safety and that any Transport Safety Enforcement staff presence be adequately resourced and equally allocated across all stations.”

 

The RMT East London Rail Branch stand solidly in solidarity with South East Essex’s motion and in addition call for the following: 

 

That the above motion that was sent by South East Essex Branch be applied to all railway workers, including all TOCs and Network Rail on station staff. 

• That MTR Elizabeth Line immediately cease the practice staff working on gate lines late at night and doing so doing lone working, as well as immediately stopping the practice of staff working at Bust stops. 
• That a message is sent to all members reminding them of their right of refusal to work under the Employment Rights Act 1996 which provides protection for employees who refuse to work under certain circumstances, Specifically, Section 44 of the Act which states that an employee has the right not to be subjected to any detriment or dismissal for refusing to work if they reasonably believe there is a serious and imminent danger that they cannot avoid and also applies if the employee takes appropriate steps to protect themselves or others from such danger. Members to be advised that they must work from a place of safety and if they do not feel safe by invoking this procedure. 
• That a message be sent from our General Secretary to the Mayor of London and Transport for London, calling on them to suspend all customer experience metrics that are being used on MTR Elizabeth Line and Arriva Rail London until such a time that there has been meetings to address the safety and security of staff working on those networks with their respective lead officers, Company Council representatives and Health and Safety representatives with agreed plans put in place for staff to have safe locations to carry out their roles. 
• That companies that employ outsourced staff are written to ensure that our outsourced station members are given the same safe places of working as internal employed members, and that no pressure be applied to these members by these companies to have them working in environments that internal staff are not having to work in. 
• That there be a Zero Tolerance to Violence to Railway Workers campaign be started, with the Government written to with demands made for more British Transport Police on the networks and more action taken to deter anti social behaviour and assaults both verbal and physical against Railway Workers.
• That the RMT National Executive arrange a meeting of all Functional Council reps on stations as well as Health and Safety reps on stations so that a unified approach to the safety and security of staff is placed as major priority with plans and strategies put in place. 

 

We believe our union will do all it can to ensure another situation like this does not ever occur again, and RMT East London Rail Branch will support all measures to ensure that this will be the case. 

 

Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Regional Council

 

This Yorkshire and Lincolnshire regional council is outraged and heartbroken by the senseless and brutal murder of our colleague at Ilford MTR Elizabeth Line Station, who was attacked and lost his life while simply doing his job.

 

We extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues, whose grief and pain are beyond words.

 

This tragedy is a tipping point. It lays bare the unchecked toxic and violent culture that our members are forced to endure daily. The time for half-measures and symbolic gestures is over. The RMT’s long-standing Zero Tolerance campaign must now escalate into decisive, urgent action to protect our members’ lives and safety.

 

We demand that national leadership convene an emergency meeting with all station grades’ Functional Council Representatives immediately. A stronger, more aggressive strategy must be forged without delay—one that prioritises safety and refuses to tolerate inaction.

 

All options must be considered, including industrial action, to make it unequivocally clear that we will no longer accept this culture of violence. The repeated, ineffective tactics of banners, flags, and postcards to politicians have failed to bring meaningful change. We cannot afford to waste more time.

 

We further insist on an emergency debate at the forthcoming Industrial Organising Conferences (IOCs), with full participation from our General Secretary, to ensure this crisis is addressed with the urgency and seriousness it demands. The lives of our members are at stake, and nothing short of immediate, high-profile action will suffice.

 

Let it be clear: ZERO TOLERANCE IS A DEMAND, NOT A REQUEST.

 

East Midlands Central branch 

 

That this branch/Regional Council is shocked and appalled to learn the tragic news of our fellow member at Ilford MTR EL station losing his life after an unprovoked attack at work. 

                        

We send our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and workmates whose pain we cannot imagine. 

 

We appreciate RMT has ran a Zero Tolerance campaign for several years however we believe that our strategy must be further developed and intensified. 

 

We therefore ask our national leadership to meet with all station grades functional council reps as a matter of urgency to forge strengthened policy. 

 

We strongly believe that all options should be considered including appropriate industrial action. The effectiveness of regularly waving flags and banners outside Parliament and sending politicians postcards has shown its limitations 

 

We also believe there should be emergency debates at the forthcoming IOCs involving our General Secretary in order to underline how seriously we take this toxic culture and maximise publicity re our anger and frustrations. 

 

We suggest the campaign slogan should now be:  ZERO TOLERANCE IS A DEMAND, NOT A REQUEST.

 

 

At its meeting on 12^th December 2024 your NEC resolved as follows:

 

We note the report from the General Secretary and MTR Elizabeth Line Lead Officer on file.  

 

We further note the resolutions from our South East Essex Branch, East London Rail Branch, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Regional Council, East Midland Central Branch and thank them all. 

 

The whole union is devastated at the passing of our member Jorge Ortega, who has tragically died after he was assaulted working at Ilford railway station. At this time of deep sadness and sorrow, we write to send our sincere condolences and deepest sympathy to the family of our member. We also send our solidarity to Jorge Ortega's colleagues in his workplace and Branch. The general secretary is, therefore, instructed to provide all other appropriate support. 

 

We are aware that this horrific incident will have an impact on our membership across the country, and we refer the issue of the wider safety of our members to our health and safety subcommittee for urgent examination and report.

 

I am acting in line with these instructions. 

 

I remind members of your rights under the company’s Work Safe Procedure and in legislation (Section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996). You should remove yourself to a place of safety if you feel you are in serious and imminent danger and not to work if you believe your safety is compromised. I refer you also to RMT’s booklet on Serious and Imminent Danger, which can be viewed at:

https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/publications/serious-and-imminent-danger-booklet/.

 

            Finally, I wish to draw members’ attention to a GoFundMe page, which has been set up to support Jorge’s family at https://gofundme/f30a08dd

 

 

Please bring this circular to the attention of relevant members.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Michael Lynch

General Secretary