4 Jul 2011

Union members to picket over Chinese rail wagons

8:25 pm on 4 July 2011

Union members at the Port of Tauranga have voted unanimously to picket against the arrival and commissioning of foreign built rail wagons.

Three hundred wagons have been ordered from China at a cost of $29 million, 120 of which are set to arrive at the port later in July. The rest are due later in the year.

Union members say they are protesting at KiwiRail not building the wagons in New Zealand and putting 70 railway workshop jobs in jeopardy.

The Rail and Maritime Transport Union national president says the picket will not leave the port many options to unload the wagons.

Aubrey Wilkinson says if KiwiRail tries to unload the ship at another port it will face the same resistance.