Hillside and Dunedin deserve an explanation

Transport Minister Steven Joyce should tell Dunedin and the workers at Hillside Rail Workshops whether a National Government would ensure it has a future, Dunedin South Labour MP Clare Curran says

“It’s time Steven Joyce was held accountable on the decisions being made about our rail engineering workshops.

“Staff at KiwiRail’s Hillside workshop - where contractors are being brought in to replace 44 employees made redundant just four months ago - have every right to be angry.

“These people watched their colleagues get the boot in July after KiwiRail accepted a Chinese tender to build rolling stock for Auckland’s rail network. Now they are being forced to work overtime alongside ‘short term contractors’ brought in because of unmanageable workloads,” Clare Curran said.

“Transport Minister Steven Joyce has repeatedly refused to engage with staff at Hillside. All they want to know is what the future holds for them,” Clare Curran said.

“Mr Joyce has not been transparent about what the Government’s real plans are for both Hillside and Hutt workshops.

“KiwiRail, no doubt at the bidding of the Minister, is also being coy - although it has confirmed there is no fabrication work planned for Hillside beyond 2012.

“To get rid of skilled, hard-working staff and then ask those remaining to step in to take up the slack is bad enough. To then give work to outside contractors is nothing short of hypocrisy.

“It says everything about National’s ‘brighter future’ spin. The workers at Hillside deserve to know whether they have a future and Dunedin deserves to know whether National will deliver it,” Clare Curran said.