The presentation of a petition to Parliament today, calling for rail engineering jobs to remain in New Zealand, is not too little too late, its supporters say.
The petition, which contains 13,684 signatures, was launched in Dunedin by Hillside delegates from the Rail and Manufacturing Transport Union about two months ago in response to KiwiRail moves to cut up to 70 jobs from its nationwide rail engineering and manufacturing operations.
KiwiRail subsequently cut 44 jobs from its Hillside workshops, a cornerstone of Dunedin's engineering cluster, on July 14 - four more than it had first proposed.
Another 30 jobs have been earmarked to be cut from KiwiRail's Woburn Workshops in Lower Hutt, and a design team in Wellington.
A KiwiRail spokeswoman said last night no consultation had yet taken place about the proposed cuts at Woburn, despite the announcement which was first made on June 9.
The RMTU blames the job cuts on KiwiRail's decision to outsource contracts for the manufacture of railway rolling stock to China, at the insistence of a Government which put commercial values ahead of New Zealand jobs.
RMTU national organiser, Wayne Butson, said supporters of a campaign to keep New Zealand manufacturing jobs in the country would present the petition to Dunedin South member of Parliament, Clare Curran, on the steps of Parliament at noon.
He said he did not think the petition, which contains the signatures of thousands of South Dunedin residents, was too little too late, given KiwiRail's decision to cut the Hillside jobs.
Other industry sectors around the country were also feeling the pinch, because of Government policies which encouraged sourcing manufacturing jobs offshore, Mr Butson said.
Hillside RMTU delegate, Stuart Johnstone, of Dunedin, will travel to Wellington to join a group of Lower Hutt rail workers to deliver the petition to Parliament.
Today's petition presentation was about keeping hope alive for New Zealand's rail engineering industry.
"My ultimate hope is to see jobs brought back home and even re-established at Hillside," Mr Johnstone said.
