The Guardian 3 August, 2005
Military style regime ended
A Patrick foot soldier from the 1998 waterfront dispute resurfaced as a manager of rail giant Pacific National, where his management style led to plummeting morale and bewildered train drivers. Ex-military officer Kieron Wain’s bizarre behaviour as manager at Port Waratah in Newcastle culminated in him removing a meal room door to stop train drivers "hiding". He has since had to remove himself from his position.
"There were never people hiding in there", says Stephen Wright, a locomotive driver with Pacific National.
The Port Waratah drivers installed their own door on the meal room, measuring five inches by five inches, on one of the remaining hinges — and dubbed it the "Kieron Wain memorial door".
"The military style regime was something we weren’t used to", said Mr Wright. "Since he left, morale has returned to where it was before he arrived."
During his time at Port Waratah, Wain came under a cloud over an alleged anger management issues, with drivers claiming he threw furniture and office equipment about.
It is believed Wain accompanied army reservists to Dubai who were to be used as strike breakers in the 1998 waterfront dispute. Wain moved to Pacific National’s Melbourne Freight Terminal at the beginning of this year.
In his brief time in Melbourne Wain has been forced to apologise to another Pacific National employee, Phil Allen, over an argument about drivers’ uniforms.
He also allegedly told a female customer that if staff didn’t perform "their penis’ would be on the line".
Meanwhile Pacific National drivers have blown the whistle on another senior manager who dumped a damming safety report in a garbage bin.
In a meeting with Pacific National employees, manager Doug Grimmond opened an envelope containing an external audit of Pacific National safety. The report was a damning indictment of declining safety standards between 2003 and May 2005.