Workplace relations at Hillside Engineering appear to have soured further after workers passed a vote of no confidence in their KiwiRail managers at a union meeting yesterday morning.
The Rail and Maritime Transport Union-led vote looks likely to gain little traction in the KiwiRail head office, with chief executive Jim Quinn instead publicly backing Hillside manager Andy Bisset and national workshops manager Clive Cooper-Smith.
"KiwiRail has every confidence in the Hillside management team. They have been actively consulting with our workforce and the union to improve work practices and productivity at Hillside," he said.
Union general secretary Wayne Butson said workers at Hillside remained angry after 44 of their rail engineering colleagues were made redundant four months ago.
The union and KiwiRail are at loggerheads over recent developments at Hillside, where contractors have recently been brought in to assist with an increase in work demands and new projects.
The 110 workers who survived the "job cull" at Hillside were being offered overtime incentives to work "at least" 10 extra hours a week, Mr Butson said.
He estimated about 30% of the labour required to manage the new projects was being outsourced to 12 contractors.
"It beggars belief that KiwiRail sack long-serving, highly skilled workers and then work those that are left flat out on overtime. [Then they] bring in outside contractors, some of whom are asking our guys for advice about how to do the job," Mr Butson said.
Outsourcing requirements because of an "unforeseen increase in short-term work" was an insufficient explanation to any employee "who had just seen 44 of his workmates sacked", he said.
Since the redundancies, the union had been trying to work with management to make Hillside as efficient as possible.
"We've asked for their long-term plan and vision for the place and we've sought to rebuild the relationship between the staff and their boss. Given what's happening, we've concluded there is no plan and that management really don't know what they're doing."
Hillside workers were frustrated, angry, and uncertain about the future of the workshops.
The Otago Daily Times asked Mr Quinn if workplace relations between Hillside employees and the workshop managers had reached a stage where the situation had become untenable and was affecting production and output.
"No. We believe the workers are keen to show their capability and are committed to maintaining the output that is required of the workshops," Mr Quinn said. He rejected a suggestion ongoing tension between workers and management was becoming a public relations issue for KiwiRail.
"We don't believe there is any tension and we will continue to work with our staff to improve the business. To not continue would challenge the viability of the work we are doing."
KiwiRail was continuing to look at opportunities to source new contracts for Hillside past 2012, but "have no further work at this time", Mr Quinn said.
Dunedin South MP Clare Curran called for the Government to step in and be held accountable for KiwiRail's management decisions to outsource rolling stock contracts overseas.
Transport Minister Steven Joyce should tell Dunedin and the workers at Hillside Rail Workshops whether a National Government would ensure it had a future, she said.
