Burlington (IA) Hawk Eye:
http://www.thehawkeye.com/daily/stories/ln1_1204.html
Office holders react with disappointment
By KILEY MILLER <mailto:kmiller@thehawkeye.com>
WEST BURLINGTON - Like graffiti on a freight car, State Sen. Tom Courtney
thinks job cuts at the
Burlington Northern Santa Fe locomotive shops were ugly but unavoidable.
BNSF officials announced intentions Wednesday to shift 89 of the 133 union
jobs at the shops to a
similar facility in Topeka, Kan., left over from the merger of the railroad
giants in 1995.
"Ever since this merger happened, it's been almost like Santa Fe bought
Burlington Northern, rather
than Burlington Northern bought Santa Fe," said Courtney, D-Burlington.
According to the BNSF press release, the shop jobs will be eliminated "no
sooner than March 5."
Positions are available in Topeka for all 89 affected employees and
Courtney, a long-time union
member and labor leader, predicts most will choose to relocate.
"Jobs are so hard to come by, and they need to keep that seniority going,"
he said. "It's one thing
to give up your job in your hometown, it's another to lose 25 years of
seniority."
Disappointment was the word most often repeated by elected officials
Wednesday when they learned of
the railroad's decision.
"It is obviously disappointing and contrary to what the company has
indicated to us in the past as
far as the stability of the company," Gov. Tom Vilsack said.
Vilsack and Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, gathered with local leaders last
December in a show of
solidarity at a meeting with BNSF corporate vice presidents. A month later,
the company laid off 248
workers at the shops.
Leach spokesman Jeremy Morrison said Wednesday the congressman would be
"available for anybody that
needs help accessing the resources of the federal government."
In a telephone interview, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said a member of
his staff had been in
regular contact with BNSF bosses for the past year, reminding them of the
productivity of the Iowa
work force and urging them to maintain the shops here.
"About all I can do at this point, since we failed to convince the
corporation, is to help anyway we
can to make sure the employees get whatever re-employment benefits or
training are available from
our Department of Labor," the senator said.
Grassley's fellow senator from Iowa, Democrat Tom Harkin, also worked to
keep the shops in West
Burlington.
"The senator was clearly disappointed by the layoffs in January, and he's
disappointed by this
decision as well," Harkin spokeswoman Maureen Knightly said.
Des Moines County supervisor Tim Hoschek called the move of the jobs from
the shops another "large
hit" to the community, but said he was encouraged that 44 workers will
remain.
"These are corporate decisions," he said. "Big decisions made by large
corporations.
"They've got to be thinking about it monetarily, and not what impact it has
on local people. But
what concerns me is losing these jobs and losing the people who, in my
opinion, have made the
railroad work all these years."
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/8ZCslB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|