By Ilaria Grasso Macola Rail union TSSA has called on newly-appointed transport secretary Mark Harper to “avoid the mistakes of Grant Shapps” and remove blocks to negotiations between workers and train operators. The relationship between former transport secretary Grant Shapps and union leaders has been a tense one, as unions accused him several times of blocking negotiations. Both Shapps and the DfT always rebutted the accusations. Things seemingly improved with the appointment of his successor Anne-Marie Trevelyan in early September. Nevertheless, unions said train operators still had no neg…