(The following article by Matthew LeBlanc was posted on the Burlington Hawk Eye website on December 5.)
BURLINGTON, Iowa — Resignation was in the air as first?shift workers left the Burlington Northern Santa Fe shops Wednesday afternoon.
BNSF’s announcement that 89 jobs will move to Topeka, Kan., from Burlington’s locomotive repair shop wasn’t unexpected, workers said as they left the shops.
They said the briefing to company employees at a 10 a.m. meeting was something for which they were prepared and they will just have to make plans to move.
“It’s either follow the work or don’t work at all,” said Jerry Cross, 51. “I have to go.”
BNSF officials announced plans to consolidate its locomotive overhaul, heavy repair and related work to the Topeka shop, a move that has been expected for nearly a year. Speculation arose regarding a possible shift of train maintenance activities to Kansas after 258 workers were laid off in January.
Cross, a sheetmetal worker with 29 1/2 years with BNSF, said he will sell his house, say goodbye to his two daughters and follow his job to Kansas.
“I’ve got no choice,” he said, while climbing into his white Dodge pickup Wednesday afternoon.
The statements echoed those of other BNSF employees after the announcement. Amid blustery winds and under overcast skies, the workers said they’d wait for a Dec. 15 meeting in Fort Worth, Texas, where union and BNSF officials will iron out pensions, benefits and whether a “moving package” will be offered to displaced workers.
The other 44 employees will stay in Burlington as “a clean?up crew,” according to some workers.
A 47?year?old machinist with 28 years of service who declined to give his name expressed dismay at the railroad’s decision to move operations to Kansas, but pointed out that jobs are waiting.
“I’m looking to go to Topeka,” he said. “Everybody that’s still here will have a job there.”
BNSF officials said in a prepared statement Wednesday that “positions at Topeka will be available for all affected employees at West Burlington.” The jobs will move to Kansas “no sooner than March 5,” according to the statement.
Some of the workers, saved from the round of January layoffs that slashed the Burlington shop’s work force by nearly two?thirds, pointed out their need to move to Topeka. Union workers must have at least 30 years of service and be at least 60 years old to receive full retirement benefits.
“A lot of us have got close to 30 years,” said Dennis Johnston, 48. “We’ve basically got to go to Topeka.”
Darrell Wagler, financial chairman of the local machinists union, said details tentatively will be ironed out Dec. 15 in Texas. Unions and BNSF officials will decide which workers will go to Kansas, whether a possible transfer to a Galesburg, Ill., shops is possible and whether workers will be compensated for the proposed moves.
“Nobody knows anything until that happens,” he said, noting that company officials have said 22 machinists will remain in Burlington.
Daryl Johnson, who has just nine years of service, said he already is preparing for the move to Kansas. After leaving the shop, he said he would tell his wife and two children they had to go.
“It’s not a surprise,” Johnson, 33, said of the announcement. “I’m relieved to know that I’ve got a job.”
Johnson’s father, Kenny, who also is a BNSF employee, said he will wait for more information.
“I’ll stay here,” he said. “What happens after they decide what to do with this building is another matter.”