I'm well aware of the strong heritage of the Hillside Engineering workshops in Dunedin. I grew up three blocks away from the workshops and my grandfather was a boiler maker there many decades ago. ...
A packed public meeting in South Dunedin last night slammed a KiwiRail decision to cut 41 jobs at the Hillside workshops, as a line-up of political, council and business figures vowed to fight the Government and keep skilled jobs in the city.
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.
It is puzzling that this Government can break the rules - or at least create new ones - to allow films to be made in Wellington, or facilitate the growth of gambling in Auckland, yet it will not lift a finger to protect jobs and safeguard the future of an important national engineering industry in Dunedin.
Jim Childerstone has trouble with the maths and the logic of the proposed Hillside lay-offs.
A groundswell of support has convinced Rail and Maritime Transport Union South Island organiser John Kerr the battle to save the Hillside Engineering workshops will be won.
Hillside workers were united in their condemnation of KiwiRail's proposal to axe up to 40 jobs at the South Dunedin engineering plant, when they rallied together at a union meeting yesterday.
Completion of new KiwiRail wagons, constructed at Dunedin's Hillside Engineering, has renewed calls from the Rail Maritime Transport Union for contracts to continue for New Zealand workers rather than out-sourcing to China.
Hillside Workshop employees will launch a publicity campaign alongside the Rail and Maritime Transport Union to garner support for a bid to try to overturn a KiwiRail decision to cut 40 jobs at the South Dunedin engineering "institution".
Proposed job cuts at Hillside Workshops, in the wake of KiwiRail's decision to reduce its mechanical business operations in Dunedin, would hurt the city's engineering industry.
Chinese-built railway wagons destined for New Zealand could be left stranded port-side as unions consider a protest against KiwiRail's decision to cut 70 industry jobs.
Long-time Hillside Engineering employee Kevin Gamble hoped he would make it to "the big 50" - work at the South Dunedin outfit for five decades.
Union man Jim Kelly of Dunedin, national president of the Rail and Maritime Transport Union for the past 21 years, did not stand for re-election this month. Industrial reporter Simon Hartley profiles more than three decades of Mr Kelly's involvement in the union movement.
The future of Hillside Workshops could be in doubt if indications KiwiRail intends to buy more than 2000 railway wagons from China turn out to be true.
A meeting to organise a campaign to ensure New Zealand rail stock is built in New Zealand has demanded the cancellation of a contract that dealt a major blow to Dunedin's Hillside Workshops. Spokesman for the newly formed Kiwi Wagons for KiwiRail campaign, Victor Billot, said the goal was the cancellation of a contract given to China CNR Corporation to build the first 300 of 3000 container flatdeck wagons to replace KiwiRail's ageing fleet. The state-owned company awarded the estimated $29 million contract to the Chinese company last year, prompting criticism and disappointment among supporters and employees at the Dunedin workshop.
Two men involved in a campaign to secure jobs for Dunedin's Hillside Workshops and associated businesses say a public meeting in the city next week should be supported, if only to keep the issue alive.
Railway wagons built in China and bound for New Zealand's railway network may end up gathering dust at a New Zealand port if the Maritime Union carries out its threat not to unload the ships on which they arrive.
Dunedin's Hillside Workshops has missed out on a contract to build 300 wagons for KiwiRail because its bid was 25% more expensive than a Chinese rival.
Six years ago, it seemed nothing could stop the rise and rise of the Hillside Engineering Group workshops. Now, it seems that once again the workshops are fighting for their lives.
In 2004, great things were being talked about for the Hillside Group Engineering workshops, in Dunedin.
