‘Living in fear’: KiwiRail staff member says they are ‘genuinely worried’ about the future

Thursday, 17 October 2024

KiwiRail is offering voluntary redundancy to all staff from Monday, but is retaining sole discretion about which applications to accept.

“The freight and passenger services we run by rail and Interislander must stand on their own feet financially, in line with our shareholder’s expectations,” chief executive Peter Reidy said in a statement.

“Losing people is always a tough decision to make, but today we are offering voluntary redundancy across the company. KiwiRail will have sole discretion over whether applications for voluntary redundancy are accepted.”

A KiwiRail train driver, who had worked at the company for 25 years, told Stuff the offer had brought on “a whole lot of uncertainty”.

“There’s no context, no sense of what the plan really is,” he said.

The employee said if staff were cut, “real gaps in the operation” would be left.

“We’re shift workers, we suffer from fatigue, and if you add into that this sort of uncertainty and stress, there’s an issue of people not being able to do this job safely.”

Another employee said workers were now “living in fear”.

He said he was “genuinely worried” about the future of the company, as he expected the skilled employees would be the ones to apply for redundancies.

“It's going to gut all the talent out of the company,” he said.

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Reidy said redeployment where possible would be considered.

“This is not an easy decision, but the time is right for us to do things differently,” he said.

“Our transformation plan will simplify our operating model and deliver what our customers are asking for – improved reliability, better customer service and greater competitiveness.”

RNZ reported that KiwiRail Chief People and Communications Officer Andrew Norton told staff in an email that the move was designed to “reshape the business, lower our costs and create a solid footing for future growth”.

Stuff previously reported KiwiRail was the midst of a major cost cutting exercise that would impact the rail services.

A spokesperson for KiwiRail confirmed earlier this month that cost cutting was under way.

“We need to lower our own costs and ensure our services are configured to meet the changing demands of the freight markets we serve,” they said.

Rail and Maritime Transport Union acting general secretary Karen Fletcher said KiwiRail was putting the cart before the horse.

“By putting out a request for redundancies they are going to get expressions of interest from people doing jobs KiwiRail needs,” Fletcher said.

“They need to work out where the surplus jobs are and identify and do a bit more of a needs assessment.”

Thursday’s announcement was going to cause unnecessary worry for many workers, Fletcher said.

KiwiRail had said it was looking to rationalise certain areas of the business, and had provided information about how it would like to reduce the number of local engineers in some places such as Napier and Palmerston North.

But the company had yet to provide consultation documents with that information.

Minister of Transport Simeon Brown said he expected KiwiRail to “run an efficient business that aligns resources with demand”.

“The decision to offer staff voluntary redundancy is an operational matter for KiwiRail. I expect them to handle this sensitively and in line with employment law”

Brown said he had been assured changes to the KiwiRail workforce would not compromise reliability or safety.

The Labour party said in a statement that the offer was “hugely concerning”.

“These are skilled workers who contribute a lot to the New Zealand economy and make sure freight and passengers move around safely,” Labour’s state-owned enterprises spokesperson Arena Williams said.

Williams said she was particularly concerned about the timing of the offer.

“There is already huge uncertainty around the future of the essential rail connection across the Cook Strait, following Nicola Willis’ decision to cancel the rail-enabled ferries.”

“Cutting maintenance and engineering jobs, when you have no plan for new ferries and are relying on the old ones, is adding fuel to the fire and will only mean ferries that break down more often and put passenger and crew safety at risk.

“Freight companies are worried too. They are unsure if their journeys will go ahead, and there is growing concern about stock arriving on time, safely,” Williams said.

The Green party’s spokesperson for transport, Julie Anne Genter said that cuts would “derail our hopes of having a viable rail network in Aotearoa”.

“People want to see greater use of rail, fewer trucks carrying freight on the road, and more frequent, affordable passenger rail services - rail is efficient, cost effective and good for our climate,” she said.