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KiwiRail proposes to slash 50 roles from Interislander staff
The tug, Monowai, returning to port after a failed attempt to refloat the Interislander ferry on the morning of June 22. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
- KiwiRail are consulting on proposals to restructure Interislander’s operational and head office staff
- The government is yet to announce the plan for replacement ferries, nearly a year on from scrapping the previous plan at a cost of more than half a billion dollars
- Concerns have been raised about the loss of skilled seafarers, including maintenance engineers, given the recent disruptions, delays and issues with Cook Strait ferries
KiwiRail is proposing to axe more than 50 roles across Interislander’s operational staff and head office.
Documents seen by RNZ show KiwiRail has plans to “right-size its workforce” following the cancellation of the new ferries and the sale of the Valentine, last year.
It is proposing a net reduction of 46 roles – nine deck officers, six engineering officers, three maintenance officers and 28 deck ratings, with the company calling for voluntary redundancies once the positions have been confirmed.
It is also proposing to restructure the Interislander head office by disestablishing nine roles and creating four new ones across its fleet and service operations.
Maritime Union of New Zealand spokesperson Victor Billot. Photo: Victor Billot
Maritime Union of New Zealand spokesperson Victor Billot said the government had not shared any information about its plans for replacement ferries, with KiwiRail the “meat in the sandwich”, constrained by the lack of decision making since the cancellation of the Inter-Island Resilient Connection (iReX) project and the two new ferries last December.
He said the situation remained uncertain and the union did not want to see any forced redundancies.
“We were going to have new ferries, they were going to require crew and that was all planned for then iRex was cancelled and according to the Minister of Finance we were going to get Toyota Corollas or something like that and a year down the track we don’t have Toyota Corollas, we don’t have anything.
“They haven’t come back with a plan, it’s been left in limbo and this is now having an effect with the potential loss of crews on ferries.”
The Maritime Union represents seafarers, including the deck ratings, who make up the largest proportion of affected jobs.
“Deck ratings work on the ships, they are able-bodied seamen who do general maritime work around the ship – anything from working on the lines to maintenance around the vessel that isn’t a specialist role.”
He said if those staff were made redundant, it could be difficult to recruit again when new ferries arrived.
“It is a very small seafaring workforce we’ve got in New Zealand, it’s a real problem and they will get other job opportunities, go overseas, they could leave the industry as its an ageing workforce and then if there is a need for new crew if the situation changes, there is a panic to find crew and it becomes hard.
“The number of people being trained is minute and it is a serious issue.”
He said recent disruptions, delays and issues with Cook Strait ferries, including the Aratere running aground in the Marlborough Sounds in June with 47 people on board, showed the need for experienced and skilled crew.
“Things can go wrong very quickly and you need skilled, qualified people who can manage those situation and that’s something we think gets left out of the mix a bit.”
Billot said the proposed job losses would result in negligible savings compared to the cost of the cancelled of the iRex project which were estimated at up to $500 million for the cancelled ferry contract, on top of $500m already spent on sunk project costs.
“We need to have a bit more of a long term plan here instead of laying people off and having to find people again.”
KiwiRail is currently seeking feedback on the proposals, with the number of positions to be confirmed later this month, before a voluntary redundancy process was expected to get underway.
A document sent to staff said the proposed changes were part of the plan to enhance Interislander’s performance, commercially, operationally and culturally.
A voluntary retirement programme for seafarers (launched in early 2024) along with natural attrition had seen the workforce reduce from 353 staff last July when it was running four ships and and planning for the arrival of the two new ferries, to 324 staff in September.
The proposed changes would see staff numbers reduced to 278.
It said the minimum and operational manning would remain unchanged, with fixed term and casual staff to provide peak or surge capacity as needed.
In the head office, it is also proposing the disestablishment of nine roles and the creation of four new roles across its fleet and service operations.
The organisation also has plans to cut train drivers and yard staff roles in Palmerston North and Napier.
KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy foreshadowed job losses last year when the iReX project was canned by the government.
Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy said having moved back to a three-ship fleet, it was proposing to align its workforce with the current fleet size, which meant the disestablishment of some roles.
He said the proposed changes to crewing levels and onshore roles had been discussed with the unions and he would not comment on the number of roles affected until the consultation process was complete.
Roy said the review of staffing levels was one of a number of intiatives to ensure Interislander was operating efficiently across the fleet while continuing to provide a safe, reliable and enjoyable service for its customers. The government had been briefed on these initiatives.
KiwiRail planned to grow by delivering superior customer service, lifting asset reliability and lowering the cost of its operations across the entire business to deliver value for customers.
Roy said safe and efficient crewing levels would continue to be maintained on Interislander’s three ferries – the Aratere, Kaitaki and Kaiārahi.
~RNZ
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
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