PRESSURES stemming from terrorist threats are being exacerbated by staff cuts on Scotland’s railways, CCTV workers said today following a vote to strike.

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) blamed “bad management” at ScotRail after bosses offered voluntary redundancy to 17 of the company’s 22 specialist CCTV workers.

The union said ScotRail had agreed to create new posts to make up for a shortfall but failed to keep the promise.

TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: “ScotRail bosses are keen to cut salary costs. But as they do so, they show they know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”

He accused the company of “undermining the safety-critical aspect of their own CCTV operation,” saying the redundancies would put passengers at risk.

“We warned them that any move to let voluntary severance hit the staff in their CCTV operation would be shortsighted.”

TSSA had previously balloted for a strike in the company’s CCTV division last autumn, but called off the planned action after the company agreed to create the new posts.

“It’s now frankly criminally negligent of ScotRail to have authorised the severance of specialist staff, which has left our remaining members working flat out on overstretched rosters as they try to bridge the yawning gap in the resources,” Mr Cortes added.

“We are constantly working under major terrorist threats and that pressure has now been increased by sheer management stupidity.”

He warned that a strike was “inevitable” if bosses did not “see sense.”

Scotrail did not respond to the Star’s request for comment.