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Union welcomes New Zealand rail and ferry renationalisation
15 May 2008
An ITF-affiliated transport union in New Zealand has applauded the government’s announcement on 5 May that it would renationalise the country’s rail and ferry industries.
The Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) hailed the news that the industries would be renationalised as a positive step in the right direction. The New Zealand government announced that it had agreed to purchase the rail and ferry services from the country’s largest transport company, Toll NZ; the sale, worth NZ$665 million (US$513 million), is set to go through on 30 June this year.
“The RMTU campaigned long and hard to get the Labour-led government to buy back the rail tracks but we always knew that in order to have the rail industry deliver what this country needs, they couldn’t stop there. We have all been urging the government to go the final step to renationalise the network,” said RMTU General Secretary Wayne Butson.
He added that the union was keen to be a part of the rejuvenation of the New Zealand rail industry and called on the government to make strong early statements of investment in new locomotives and wagons.
General Secretary of the ITF-affiliated Maritime Union of New Zealand, Trevor Hanson, commenting on the renationalisation of the ferries, added his support, stating that the government was moving in the right direction. However, more needed to be done. He said: "We need some more speed in developing New Zealand-owned coastal shipping, establishing a national ports strategy, and ensuring our transport infrastructure is developed for the benefit of New Zealand, not private interest groups or overseas shareholders."
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