21 Dec 2012

Hillside demise 'closes chapter' in NZ manufacturing

10:11 am on 21 December 2012

KiwiRail workers at Dunedin's Hillside workshop say a chapter has closed on New Zealand manufacturing.

KiwiRail workers around the country planned to stop work for two minutes at 11am on Friday to mark the end of 130 years of engineering history at the Hillside workshops.

The site has been sold to an Australian company and Friday is the last day of work for 90 staff.

New owner Bradken Engineering will take on 18 staff and several others will stay on with KiwiRail in maintenance roles.

Departing employee Les Ingram says it's an indictment of the National-led Government which has done nothing to save manufacturing.

Mr Ingram says there are no jobs advertised at this time of year so it's a stressful time for their families.