Dunedin mayor Dave Cull says if the Government wants to lift employment and promote businesses and industry, it must consider the long-term costs of sending work overseas that can be done perfectly well in New Zealand.
KiwiRail is proposing to cut 41 manufacturing jobs at its Hillside engineering workshop in Dunedin - one of the city's biggest employers. The rail operator is cutting a total of 70 jobs nationwide.
KiwiRail says there's not enough mechanical engineering work to justify all 172 jobs at Hillside.
Mr Cull says the Government has told KiwiRail to take the lowest price for the manufacture of wagons, but he says they could be made for not much more in Dunedin.
He says sending work overseas will have a significant effect on the workers and on Dunedin overall.
