TRANSPORT Minister Humza Yousaf is under pressure to investigate claims that workers at a call centre for Scotland's rail operator were refused trade union representation.

The leader of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) said his union was ignored for more than a year over requests it made to visit staff at the site in Fort William.

ScotRail operator Abellio took over the formerly public in-house service when it started running Scotland's rail services in 2015.

TSSA union general secretary, Manuel Cortes, said the minister should use his powers to investigate "union-blocking behaviour" at the call centre. Cortes said that Abellio had failed to respond for more than a year to TSSA requests to let the union visit and recruit in the workplace.

Cortes said nearly 60 staff had been denied access to union representation because of this.

The TSSA general secretary said Yousaf should look at whether Abellio's approach to union had breached the Scottish Government's own fair work framework.

He said: "TSSA is the union which represents clerical and back office staff across the rail and transport industries. These days that includes call centres. We should definitely be representing the workers in the Fort William call centre if they want to be, but as it stands, Abellio aren't even allowing their staff here to choose whether they want union representation.

"We have tried to resolve this matter as diplomatically as possible for well over a year now. But frankly Abellio's stone-wall policy towards us with their silence has delayed their Fort William workforce of their legal right to belong to a union.

"This is the sort of practice that we have come to expect from Tories south of the border, but I'm sure the whole of the SNP will be appalled to hear that Abellio is carrying out Tory-style industrial relations in SNP run Scotland.

"I'm sure too they will want to join with me in pressing on Humza Yousef to take personal charge of an investigation into this malfeasance."

A Scottish Government spokesperson said that ministers favoured a "pro-active working relationship with the unions".

The spokesperson added: “Ultimately this is a matter between the employer and the unions, however we encourage both parties to facilitate engagement with staff in Fort William on union representation options.”

Last night, it was understood Abellio had agreed to meet TSSA representatives in the near future to attempt to resolve the issue.

When contacted by the Sunday Herald, an Abellio spokesperson said: "We have constructive relationships with all the rail unions, including TSSA and have been in touch with them about accessing our Fort William site to carry out a recruitment and information visit.”