Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF to furlough 104 at Topeka Shops

Sad situation. A statement from BNSF read:

Due to lower freight volumes and a significant reduction in locomotives and railcars required on our network, BNSF Railway has made the difficult decision to reduce 104 positions at our Topeka Locomotive Shop. The reduction in force will take effect on Nov. 6. We understand the significant impact this has on our employees, their families and the local community. We value our people, and these decisions are not made lightly. We are working diligently to connect impacted employees with available resources and they will be offered the opportunity to apply for a transfer to open positions across our network.

https://www.ksnt.com/news/local-news/bnsf-railway-lays-off-104-employees-in-topeka/

We are also losing 15 carmen in Barstow and 10 in Stockton even though volume is climbing. 

Just before the holidays...

Speaking from past experience, if you’re one of the folks being furloughed. any time of the year pretty much sucks.

santafe199 Wrote:
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> Just before the holidays...

Posted from iPhone

I AM speaking from past experience. December 15, 1981 was the absolute shittiest time of the year to get the axe... The holiday implications were ENORMOUS...

Lance/199

I hate it that these people are losing their jobs.  Stinks.

tomstp Wrote:
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> I hate it that these people are losing their jobs.
>  Stinks.

The ENTIRE situation of this country stinks Tom, NOT just the railroads.

Following the 28 they laid off a short time ago. What was interesting in the latest group were the 11 boilermakers, must not be running as much steam
out of Topeka anymore.

Out 

Yeah, this is like all the hundreds of people BNSF furloughed in the Pacific Northwest, but now with grain traffic going through the roof, they are critically short of crews according to friends that work there (they say that BNSF is also denying their paid leave days now).  Heard they've called many back, but many of them are getting smart and keeping their other work and getting out of the dead end railroad industry.  Probably the smart move as it doesn't sound like there is going to be a future working for the railroads.

wyeth Wrote:
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> Probably the smart move as it doesn't sound like
> there is going to be a future working for the
> railroads.

Sounds like "worker rebellion" to me, which is good. If management is short-sighted and unwilling to sacrifice just a teeny-weeny bit of bottom line to keep a healthy work environment, this is what they get, no loyalty.

There was a credible off topic comment about how the UP Steam Program is keeping the employees who don't have enough seniority to hold a job elsewhere. Smart cost-sacrificing move to preserve the future of the program, no? I watched a good number of trains on BNSF's Aurora Sub couple of weeks ago, and while their trains haven't become the needless monsters the UP trains have become, they could ease up on making them too long, and instead keep more crews around to run shorter trains smoother? That would also be a smart cost-sacrificing move with an eye on the long term.

wyeth Wrote:
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> Yeah, this is like all the hundreds of people BNSF
> furloughed in the Pacific Northwest, but now with
> grain traffic going through the roof, they are
> critically short of crews according to friends
> that work there (they say that BNSF is also
> denying their paid leave days now).  Heard
> they've called many back, but many of them are
> getting smart and keeping their other work and
> getting out of the dead end railroad industry. 
> Probably the smart move as it doesn't sound like
> there is going to be a future working for the
> railroads.

I looked at the furlough boards in several PNW terminals yesterday and there are still a ton of train and enginemen furloughed. They have 30 days to respond to recall or they are terminated so I doubt all of them are just ignoring recall and working their other jobs. The company is intentionally running the boards thin and working everyone who isn't furloughed to death. They are doing this system-wide, not just in the PNW.

cchan006 Wrote:


> There was a credible off topic comment about how
> the UP Steam Program is keeping the employees who
> don't have enough seniority to hold a job
> elsewhere. 
​The UP steam crew was reduced. It is down to Ed and I believe 4 others.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Bob3985 Wrote:
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> cchan006 Wrote:
>
>
> > There was a credible off topic comment about
> how
> > the UP Steam Program is keeping the employees
> who
> > don't have enough seniority to hold a job
> > elsewhere. 
> ​The UP steam crew was reduced. It is down to Ed
> and I believe 4 others.

Last I heard, the UP steam crew has been reduced to: 1) The manager, 2) the General Foreman, and 3) the other "Engineer", Ted.

"worker rebellion" in industrial companies occasionally ends well, but not very often.

Unless workers have a common interest, and enough voting shares to be heard in the Board room, they are hired help. To be furloughed and laid up in good order until they are needed.

If CSX employees had owned 10% or 15% of the company's shares, there is no way that Mantle Ridge would have taken over. Same thing with Canadian Pacific and Pershing Square.  But, labor gives up jobs, work procedures, territory limits, etc producing economic gains for decades.  The gains go almost entirely to the owners of stock shares, who provide the capital for the company.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/20 10:31 by Lackawanna484.

trainjunkie Wrote:
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> The company is intentionally running the boards thin and working
> everyone who isn't furloughed to death. They are
> doing this system-wide, not just in the PNW.


And as far as BNSF is concerned... all their furlough boards do is give them a cheap, barely-qualified (because they haven't stood on the rocks or sat in the seat for now up to 2 years...), part-time (easy to yank back and forth from extra board to OIFR as holidays and big sports events depleate the rest of us), scab workforce. Sad situation indeed.



Mr. MRL

It is to be noted that MrMRL is not just a casual observer, his opinions are quite valid,

Out 

MrMRL Wrote:
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> And as far as BNSF is concerned... all their
> furlough boards do is give them a cheap,
> barely-qualified (because they haven't stood on
> the rocks or sat in the seat for now up to 2
> years...), part-time (easy to yank back and forth
> from extra board to OIFR as holidays and big
> sports events depleate the rest of us), scab
> workforce. Sad situation indeed.

Going to be a disaster when peak season starts.

I don't know how it is in terminals outside of the former Santa Fe Coastlines, but if you are involuntarily (forced) to recall, you have 30 days to report. If everyone would do that the company couldn't use the OIFR board as a extra/retention/reserve board. But, of course, the solidarity of the workforce is always an issue. I blame the leadership in our General Committee. We get almost no direction from them. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/20 10:54 by trainjunkie.

MrMRL Wrote:
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> 
>
>
> scab
> workforce. ]
Maybe the rest of your statement is true however the term scab does not apply to the employees working.  Unless there is a trade union dispute and the employees were never previously employed, the term "scab" is not applicable.  I don't believe they are breaking a strike.  
>
>
>
> 

Bob3985 Wrote:
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> ​The UP steam crew was reduced. It is down to Ed
> and I believe 4 others.

Thanks Bob, and also thanks Jack for the info. Specific, and not vague.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> Unless workers have a common interest, and enough
> voting shares to be heard in the Board room, they
> are hired help. To be furloughed and laid up in
> good order until they are needed.

As I mentioned before, CSX a decade before Mantle Ridge was able to fight off "Children's Investment Fund" from taking over the company without employee ownership.

I'll be blunt here. "Employee ownership" for large, established companies like Class I railroads is only good for a long term pump and dump by Wall St. elites, because they can count on large number of employees buying the stocks. That's my advice to the railheads here - fight oppression by other means.

I've gone through the "employee ownership" shenanigans in Silicon Valley with several companies already, firsthand experience. It only works for high growth companies with small % of shares outside company/employee control, which the railroads aren't.

Besides, it won't apply to BNSF anyway, as the company should be isolated from manipulation of Berkshire Hathaway shares.

fbb37 Wrote:
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> MrMRL Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > 
> >
> >
> > scab
> > workforce. ]
> Maybe the rest of your statement is true however
> the term scab does not apply to the employees
> working.  Unless there is a trade union dispute
> and the employees were never previously employed,
> the term "scab" is not applicable.  I don't
> believe they are breaking a strike.  
> >
> >
> >
> > 
 Absolutely correct, fbb37. Piss-poor choice of mrl, as they pay/paid dues to protect and maintain their seniority. They are NOT scabs and can't imagine them appreciating you calling them that.