An ordinary Sunday morning and on my way to the cathedral I stop at the service station and at the counter find a petition to save the jobs at Hillside.
Five minutes later, at the supermarket checkout, there is the same petition on the counter and the lady there tells me about staff who have husbands or partners and whose jobs at Hillside are under threat.
"They have children and mortgages," she says indignantly.
The closeness and interconnectedness of people in this city is awesome!As Dean in the cathedral I have to ask what my faith and my theology (not always quite the same thing) might say about KiwiRail and the situation at Hillside. All that I have to work with is, on the one hand, the faith I hold and seek to live by, and on the other hand, the reports and comments I read in the newspapers.
While theology offers no silver bullet to resolve the dilemma of KiwiRail, at the heart of the theological enterprise is a continual concern with absolute reality and with how human beings relate to one another, to the creation and to God. Much theology is often a kind of "macro-thinking", but it is also able to be very specific and contextual.
For instance, in our present context I find the parable of the labourers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) a powerful and evocative text. I won't paraphrase or summarise it here - but its thrust is a radically inclusive image of the "Kingdom of God": everybody belongs; everybody has a place; everybody is of equal value.
That resonates with me every time I say the Lord's Prayer "your kingdom come"; I cannot say those words without reflecting on what is happening in New Zealand and what our vision may be for our nation and our city.
This is one example of how the images, symbols and stories intrinsic to theology have the capacity to test our assumptions about ourselves, our society, and our values. It is this kind of thinking that appears sadly absent in the way KiwiRail has been managing the situation at Hillside.
One of the themes that runs constantly through the arguments of KiwiRail and the Government concerning Hillside is that the decisions were an economic necessity. That needs to be questioned more deeply.
The word "economy" originates from a Greek word that designated "household management" - and the management of a household requires many things so that the entire household in all its activities and various stages of life may thrive.
Where money is part of that management (and in what household is it not?) it is merely a symbol of our values.
Accordingly, if we explore what a more comprehensive understanding of "economy" might mean in our nation, more than just budget lines must be included.
For instance, consider the comment by Mr Quinn, the KiwiRail CEO: "Our job here is to make sure we use our money well and competitively so that we deliver a long-term sustainable railway. And that at the end of the day is the main task." (ODT, 9.6.11) Is the decision of KiwiRail using money well?
One has to wonder how the "household" of New Zealand benefits when the expenditure of public money does not help provide jobs. One also wonders what "sustainable" means in this context when the capacity to maintain the railway is degraded.
It is difficult not to conclude that Mr Quinn has too narrow a concept of what his main task should be, although that might not be entirely his fault. Very likely it has much to do with the guidelines that the Government has determined for KiwiRail.
Are the guidelines comprehensive enough to serve the interests of all New Zealanders? I was similarly intrigued by the words that the Transport Minister Stephen Joyce used: "It's very important that we allow KiwiRail to make their commercial decisions about individual elements of their organisation ... We're all looking to provide Kiwi jobs but the Government can't place requirements on KiwiRail that they don't place on any other New Zealand company."
What are the assumptions behind these words? Is what the minister calls "commercial decisions" a privileged domain that has no accountability to the greater good of all in the national household? I doubt any politician would care to own that implication.
Indeed, considering that KiwiRail is a state-owned enterprise - why cannot the Government place requirements upon it? (Or would that interfere with another dubious concept, the "free market"?)When I think about the parable and how it may test what is happening with KiwiRail, I am impressed by the radical inclusion the parable models - everyone benefits, there are no exclusions.
I believe that a publicly owned company must be driven by a vision that includes social accountability and employment opportunities.
So too with government, we need a vision that serves the nation. (We can learn from Australia where, under the Australian industry participation plan, companies bidding for large government procurements (generally above $20 million) must implement Australian industry participation plans: that creates jobs locally.) As Proverbs notes, "where there is no vision, the people perish": the jobs at Hillside must be kept going.
- Trevor James is the dean of St Paul's Cathedral
