(The following story by Curt Nettinga appeared on the Hot Springs Star website on January 20, 2009.)
EDGEMONT, S.D. — The downturn in the economic situation in the county has reached home, as dozens of Burlington Northern Sante Fe employees based out of Edgemont have furloughed.
“Like many other businesses, BNSF has been impacted by the current economic conditions,” said Gus Melonas, the regional media spokesman for the railway company. Melonas is based in Washington state.
“Shipping volumes have declined and are not anticipated to rebound in the near term,” Melonas stated. “As a result BNSF will furlough employees involved with movement of trains in several cities in the U.S.”
BNSF is not speculating on a return to work for the employees.
Melonas would not confirm that drops in shipping in other areas of the county have forced BNSF employees with more seniority to seek work in other areas, such as Edgemont. “BNSF is not specifying where the employees have come from,” he said, but agreed, “Seniority in the company allows movement from locations.”
Melonas said that at this point 51 employees have been furloughed from the Edgemont depot. He added that all BNSF employees who have been furloughed can exercise their rights as union employees.
According to BNSF’s web site, the company maintains 32,000 route miles with 40,000 employees. More than 10 percent of the electricity in the United States is generated from coal hauled by the company, 90 percent of which comes from the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana.
Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railway has corporate headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas.