Negotiations between Hillside union delegates and their KiwiRail bosses have broken down on the eve of a public rally to campaign against proposed jobs cuts at the South Dunedin engineering outfit.
Tensions between KiwiRail representatives and Hillside workers have been simmering, after the state railway carrier announced 10 days ago 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 job losses - 40 employees are to be axed from Hillside's workforce of 172 - on KiwiRail's decision to outsource major rail manufacturing contracts overseas.
RMTU organiser John Kerr said a meeting in Dunedin yesterday broke down when KiwiRail representatives "started acting unprofessionally", after a union request to provide facts and figures about contracts for the manufacture of China-made rolling stock and railway wagons.
"We've decided to formally write to them with our request. We asked for an adjournment of the meeting when one of them started thumping the table . . . his behaviour was out of line.
"When we phoned them to try and resume the meeting, we just got another tirade down the phone," Mr Kerr said.
Wellington-based KiwiRail acting chief executive Rick van Barneveld disputed the allegations and said he was confident his staff had acted professionally "and would continue to do so" as talks progressed.
Hillside delegates are also upset about KiwiRail's unwillingness to "fully disclose" figures behind the Chinese bid, which the union wants to have reassessed by an economic and engineering consultant, Mr Kerr said.
"We want to compare them with [Hillside], because we think there is a case for the work to remain in South Dunedin," Mr Kerr said.
Mr van Barneveld said a union request for a six-week period to carry out its economic comparison will not be granted.
"We have already commenced the consultation process with our employees at Hillside, and the longer this process goes on, the harder it is for those affected [by job cuts]" Mr van Barneveld said.
A confidential cost analysis on the tender submissions was provided to the RMTU last week, he said.
A meeting at the Cargill Enterprises Hall tonight will call for support for a "Save Hillside" campaign - a move which has the backing of Dunedin's council, businesses and MPs.
Public support was needed to try to sway the Government, as shareholders of the state-owned enterprise, to get KiwiRail bosses to change their minds, Mr Kerr said.
The union intends to argue the SOE ignored the wider economic implications for the Dunedin community, a vital consideration which should have been taken into account before outsourcing its contracts, Mr Kerr said.
Save Hillside Workshops
• Public campaign meeting: 7pm.
• Location: Cargill Enterprises Hall, 199 Hillside Rd, South Dunedin.
• Speakers: Dunedin City Council representatives, Otago Chamber of Commerce, Labour, the Greens, Greenpeace and the Rail and Maritime Transport Union.
