(The following story by James Carlson appeared on the Topeka Capital-Journal website on June 1, 2009.)
TOPEKA, Kan. — Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway has indefinitely furloughed 10 employees in its Topeka mechanical department, a spokesman for the railroad company said Monday.
Company wide, BNSF will reduce its mechanical department by 307 positions – 40 from attrition and the remaining 267 through furloughs. The move comes after the company took similar action in February.
The employees will be asked back to work when the economy improves and rail service demand increases, “but there is no indication of when that might happen,” said BNSF spokesman Steven Forsberg.
“BNSF regrets having to take this action as a result of the economic recession, which has caused BNSF unit volume to fall approximately 14 percent from the same period last year,” he said.
The furloughs will take place at locations across the BNSF system and were effective Tuesday.
In February, BNSF furloughed 150 employees nationwide, 26 of them in Topeka.