KiwiRail confirms Hillside job losses

KiwiRail will go ahead with its decision to cut up to 44 jobs at its Hillside Workshops in South Dunedin, employees have just heard.

Speaking from outside the Hillside Workshops main gate, Rail and Maritime Transport Union organiser John Kerr said the job cuts "flew in the face'' of a month-long consultation period with union delegates.

KiwiRail representatives and a team of Hillside RMTU delegates have spent about three weeks negotiating about whether the job cuts are needed, Mr Kerr said.

He slammed the KiwiRail decision to increase the number of jobs which are expected to be cut at Hillside.

"It's inept. It's ill-considered. It's rushed. I just think this outfit is run by a bunch of amateurs. They're not fit to run a bath let alone a railway system,'' he said.

The loss of the up to 44 jobs amounts to about a 20% reduction of Hillside's 172 strong workforce, taking staff levels at the South Dunedin engineering outfit to near historic lows.

No indications have been given by KiwiRail about where the expected jobs cuts will be made among Hillside's engineering divisions, Mr Kerr said.

One minor victory for the union is a guarantee that no apprentices will lose their jobs. Voluntary redundancies from among Hillside's workforce have been called for by KiwiRails managers, Mr Kerr said.

A resolution from the RMTU, which called for union members not to volunteer for redundancy, would be withdrawn, Mr Kerr said.

"These people have got the future of themselves and their families to think of. We don't want to stand in their way,'' he said.

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