The big spike in the Otago region, demonstrates the need to support rail industry jobs like those at Hillside workshop in Dunedin, according to the Rail and Maritime Transport Union.

Otago registered an increase in unemployment in today's Household Labour Force Survey, beside Northland, Bay of Plenty and Tasman/Nelson/West Coast.

The percentage of unemployment in Otago has escalated from 2.7% in the March 2008 quarter and 4.4% in the March 2009 quarter, to 6.3% in the March 2010. Wayne Butson, General Secretary of the Rail and Maritime Transport Union asserted that Hillside workshop is a major employer in Dunedin.

He said, "This is the time to be backing Hillside, not walking away from it, as we have seen from the government's response this week to the BERL report on building rolling stock for Auckland".

Butson further added that the rail workshops in Dunedin and Lower Hutt do posses the expertise, equipment and workers who are ready and keen to do that kind of work.

He clarified that they wanted that KiwiRail and the Government should support Kiwi workers, the Dunedin and Lower Hutt economies, and the trains should be built at home.

According to an estimate, building trains needed for Auckland electrification in New Zealand will be able to add about 1270 additional jobs, which will add $232 to $250 million to GDP.