Manuel Cortes (right) with Mick Whelan (left) and Paul Nowak at the Protest for an Affordable Railway under Public Ownership at London Waterloo in 2015
Cortes was born and raised in Gibraltar; while growing up, he never spoke English with his family.[2] He left school with no qualifications.[3]
He became an apprenticeelectrician, joined a local union, and gained technical qualifications from the Gibraltar and Dockyard Technical College. It allowed him to pursue further studies at a technical college in Kent. He studied Engineering at Heriot-Watt University, later becoming a full-time student representative. Later he would gain master's degrees in Optical Electronics and Business Economics from the University of Strathclyde.
In March 1998, Cortes joined the TSSA, the UK's second-largest rail union, which was formerly known as the Railway Clerks' Association, a white-collar union. On 15 November 2011, he was elected General Secretary for a five-year term. In December 2016, he was re-elected with 66% of the vote on a turnout of 19%.[4]
In 2022, Cortes was accused of sexual harassment by a former TSSA employee, something which he vehemently denied and which had not been upheld after an internal investigation.[6]
In February 2023, the report of an investigation by a Labour Party member of the House of Lords that was requested by the Trade Unions Congress (TUC) was published.[7] The report was critical of Cortes and other senior TSSA officials and supported the harassment allegations made by several former TSSA staff. Cortes and several other senior TSSA staff were dismissed following publication of the report commissioned by the TUC.[8]
In June 2023, delegates at the TSSA annual conference rejected appeals from former General Secretary, Manuel Cortes, and former Interim Organising Director, Luke Chester, after they were both dismissed for gross misconduct. Delegates heard from Cortes and Chester by video link during a closed session of the gathering in Cork, Ireland. During his appeal, Cortes removed his shirt and argued he had been "made a scapegoat". The decision means that conference has upheld the dismissals of Cortes and Chester.[9]
Referencesedit
^Elgot, Jessica. "Leftwingers launch pro-EU campaign to shift Labour position on Brexit". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
^A Marxist case against Brexit: Trade union leader Manuel Cortes on what Labour should do, New Statesman, 22 February 2018
^ ab"Manuel Cortes: our new General Secretary". TSSA. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
^. Gibraltar Chronicle. 2 December 2016. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
^Wilkinson, Michael (23 August 2016). "Bernie Sanders 'backs Jeremy Corbyn' in Labour leadership race". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
^Syal, Rajeev (10 May 2022). "Union enforces NDA to stop woman repeating sexual harassment allegation". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
manuel, cortes, confused, with, manuel, cortez, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed. Not to be confused with Manuel Cortez This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Manuel Cortes news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2015 Learn how and when to remove this message Manuel Cortes born 2 May 1967 is a British trade unionist who served as the General Secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association TSSA between 2011 and 2022 1 Cortes speaking at the 2016 Labour Party Conference Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2 1 Transport Salaried Staffs Association 3 References 4 External linksEarly life edit nbsp Manuel Cortes right with Mick Whelan left and Paul Nowak at the Protest for an Affordable Railway under Public Ownership at London Waterloo in 2015 Cortes was born and raised in Gibraltar while growing up he never spoke English with his family 2 He left school with no qualifications 3 He became an apprentice electrician joined a local union and gained technical qualifications from the Gibraltar and Dockyard Technical College It allowed him to pursue further studies at a technical college in Kent He studied Engineering at Heriot Watt University later becoming a full time student representative Later he would gain master s degrees in Optical Electronics and Business Economics from the University of Strathclyde Career editCortes first job after university was for the Banking Insurance and Finance Union BIFU that merged with the Barclays Group Staff Union and NatWest Staff Association in 1999 to become the UNIFI then became part of Amicus in 2004 He worked for a year as a fundraiser for Amnesty International 3 Transport Salaried Staffs Association edit In March 1998 Cortes joined the TSSA the UK s second largest rail union which was formerly known as the Railway Clerks Association a white collar union On 15 November 2011 he was elected General Secretary for a five year term In December 2016 he was re elected with 66 of the vote on a turnout of 19 4 In 2015 Cortes endorsed Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour Party leadership election 5 In 2022 Cortes was accused of sexual harassment by a former TSSA employee something which he vehemently denied and which had not been upheld after an internal investigation 6 In February 2023 the report of an investigation by a Labour Party member of the House of Lords that was requested by the Trade Unions Congress TUC was published 7 The report was critical of Cortes and other senior TSSA officials and supported the harassment allegations made by several former TSSA staff Cortes and several other senior TSSA staff were dismissed following publication of the report commissioned by the TUC 8 In June 2023 delegates at the TSSA annual conference rejected appeals from former General Secretary Manuel Cortes and former Interim Organising Director Luke Chester after they were both dismissed for gross misconduct Delegates heard from Cortes and Chester by video link during a closed session of the gathering in Cork Ireland During his appeal Cortes removed his shirt and argued he had been made a scapegoat The decision means that conference has upheld the dismissals of Cortes and Chester 9 References edit Elgot Jessica Leftwingers launch pro EU campaign to shift Labour position on Brexit The Guardian Retrieved 1 June 2018 A Marxist case against Brexit Trade union leader Manuel Cortes on what Labour should do New Statesman 22 February 2018 a b Manuel Cortes our new General Secretary TSSA 12 December 2011 Retrieved 3 December 2016 Gibraltarian wins second term at head of UK transport union Gibraltar Chronicle 2 December 2016 Archived from the original on 20 December 2016 Retrieved 3 December 2016 Wilkinson Michael 23 August 2016 Bernie Sanders backs Jeremy Corbyn in Labour leadership race The Daily Telegraph Retrieved 15 July 2017 Syal Rajeev 10 May 2022 Union enforces NDA to stop woman repeating sexual harassment allegation The Guardian UK Retrieved 18 February 2024 https assets eu 01 kc usercontent com 81b3452f 5056 01c8 b2c8 1c901bd27e20 e9997caa 16f9 4a19 b2a5 ae36e72c021b Kennedy 20Report 20Final 20February 202023 pdf Trade Union Leader Dismissed Following Report Into Sexual Harassment Novara Media Retrieved 5 May 2023 Smythe Polly 8 June 2023 Trade Union Leader Loses Appeal Against Sexual Abuse Scandal Dismissal Novara Media Retrieved 26 June 2023 External links editTSSA structure Trade union offices Preceded byGerry Doherty General Secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association2011 2022 Succeeded byFrank Ward acting Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Manuel Cortes amp oldid 1213765019, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
