Rail workers’ union condemns rail privatisation in Wellington

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The rail workers’ union is condemning the Greater Wellington Regional Council’s (GWRC) decision to privatise Wellington’s metro rail services, says RMTU General Secretary Wayne Butson.

“We’re saddened to see the GWRC opt for privatisation.”

GWRC has selected Transdev Australasia in association with Hyundai Rotem as the preferred future operator for Wellington’s metro rail service.

“We know that privatisation comes with future costs. To councillors the upfront costs might look like a saving, but we know from past experience that private rail operators often provide poorer service at a greater cost over time. Eventually the public has to step in again to prop up services,” said Butson.

“This decision will place Wellington in the same rail operating framework as Auckland. But we’ve seen that privatisation in Auckland has meant increasing ratepayer subsidies per passenger journey.”

“Privatisation just isn’t needed. Wellington metro rail services have been delivered by the national rail operator for more than 80 years,” said Butson.

“KiwiRail, as a state owned enterprise, will be the poorer for the loss of work and our members are deeply saddened at the prospect of leaving the KiwiRail family.”

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The RMTU’s collective agreement is robust and contains provisions dealing with the transfer of union members to a new employer. The RMTU will work with Transdev as an operator and maintains an existing relationship with the company in Auckland.

4 COMMENTS

  1. What is difficult to understand is that there are people on the GWRC who you might think would be very reluctant to privatise assets. People like Chris Laidlaw and Paul Swain who we used to regard as centre-left.
    And to make it worse the trolley buses are also being scrapped by these same people.
    It would be easier to understand if the political right were responsible because they have always hated the trolley buses, but why now? It seems the forces of Rogernomics are not yet dead.

  2. so plz excuse my ignorance…

    “will be the poorer for the loss of work and our members are deeply saddened at the prospect of leaving the KiwiRail family.”

    The RMTU’s collective agreement is robust and contains provisions dealing with the transfer of union members to a new employer.”

    so if the members decide they will not move does the contract fall over?

  3. the idea that in a competitive ‘tender’ process, a foreign company can benefit from a “transfer of a workforce”.
    does the current employer get renumerated for training, systems…?

  4. Hey here’s a good idea…

    Let’s NOT learn from our mistakes.

    The successes of Gauckland now come to Wellywood.

    D’Huh!

    This goes to show just how pervasive the neo-lib doctrine has become. Privatisation has been tried before so many times and has resolutely failed to deliver on its promises. Cheap power? Cheap telecommunications? Cheap internet? Cheap meat? Cheap fruit? Cheap milk? Cheap education? Cheap medicine? Cheap transport?

    Yeah right…

    This goes way beyond councillors being centre left, hard left, or even far right.

    This is a total failure to see the problem as being led by neo-lib ideology. How about privatising the GWRC; that should lower rates and improve efficiency?

    Yeah right…

    Good luck with this one Wellington, you deserve it…

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