The meeting to save the Hillside workshops attracted more than 300 people, including Hillside workers, who heard from Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull, Dunedin South Labour MP Clare Curran, Otago Combined Trade Unions convener Glenda Alexander, Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei, Otago Chamber of Commerce president Peter McIntyre, Michael Tritt, of Greenpeace, and Rail and Maritime Transport Union South Island organiser John Kerr.
The Cargill Enterprises Hall was packed, with people spilling on to the street.
All speakers took exception to the loss of skilled jobs in Dunedin for what they said was a flawed decision to have New Zealand rolling stock made in China.
Negotiations between Hillside union delegates and KiwiRail bosses broke down this week.
The state railway carrier announced recently it intended to cut 70 jobs from its nationwide engineering and design operations, with the South Dunedin workshop the hardest hit.
The Rail and Maritime Transport Union blames the loss of 41 jobs on KiwiRail's decision to outsource major rail manufacturing contracts overseas.
Mr Cull told the crowd the issue was not just about jobs, but the future of a whole industry sector, and the ability of Dunedin and New Zealand to have a sustainable economic future.
It was important not to have that "cut off by short-term decisions".
Ms Curran said KiwiRail was planning to change from manufacturing rolling stock to just maintaining and repairing it.
"I don't want that to happen; you don't want that to happen."
Otago Chamber of Commerce president Peter McIntyre said the chamber's concerns were "pragmatic", and came from an economic perspective.
The Government's decisions on the issue "don't add up".
The meeting unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Government to direct KiwiRail to "abandon its plans to slash jobs" at the Hillside workshop, and at the Woburn workshop in Wellington, to invest in high-skill and high-wage jobs at those sites, and develop a procurement policy that would take account of the New Zealand economy.
