JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Corp., the parent company of Jacksonville’s CSX Transportation, laid off 67 workers in five different departments and announced that it wouldn’t fill 135 vacant positions, the Florida Times-Union reported.
Forty of the laid-off workers are in Jacksonville and the remainder throughout the company. The layoffs were done in accordance with the CSX business plan, not by seniority, the company said.
CSXT operates the third-largest railroad in the Unites States. The layoffs take place two months after the company reported higher third-quarter earnings but lower operating earnings at its railroad and intermodal divisions because of weak coal demand.
The company delayed making the job cuts during the sluggish economy, CSX spokesman Adam Hollingsworth said.
“The economy continues to stall and we put measures in place to respond to that and we put off difficult people decisions as long as possible,” he said. “These are always difficult decisions to make, and there is never a good time to make them.”
John Bentley, spokesman for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers labor union, said the layoffs weren’t unexpected but the timing was.
Boca Raton-based RailAmerica announced this week it’s laying off 145 workers; Norfolk Southern Corp., 81; Union Pacific Corp., 17; Canadian National Railway, 1,100.
“CSX isn’t the only one doing it,” Bentley said.
Larry Kaufman, a columnist for Trains magazine and the Rail Business newsletter, said the layoffs are probably temporary and seasonal.
“I just don’t think it’s a very significant,” he said. “I would not be surprised to see a good fourth quarter.” In third-quarter earnings reports, CSX officials said they were disappointed in the results, but they are confident the company will rebound for the fourth quarter.
CSX’s total net income for the quarter was $127 million, or 60 cents a share, up from $100 million, or 47 cents a share, the previous year. Operating income at the rail and intermodal units, which make up the bulk of CSX’s earnings, fell 4 percent in the quarter.
Gains from some real estate sales and lower interest expenses boosted overall net income for the company. Total revenue rose from $2.019 billion a year ago to $2.055 billion in the third quarter of 2002.
CSX has cut costs in the last two years by reducing its employee count. Ward said the company cut employment by 2,100 last year and expects to eliminate 900 to 1,000 more jobs this year, mostly through attrition.
The Richmond, Va.-based company employed 40,578 people as of August, including 33,912 at its Jacksonville-based railroad division.