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Union Pacific just broke revenue records, so why is it laying off workers?
Union Pacific just broke revenue records, so why is it laying off workers?
Heather Richards 307-266-0592, Heather.Richards@trib.com 8 hrs ago
Loads of grain trundled down toward Mexico as summer ended, and strong crude prices drove up the number of rail cars hauling petroleum or liquefied gas by 40 percent. But Union Pacific ended a record third quarter with an announcement that nearly 700 jobs would be cut. ... Most of those workers were management and contractors based in the Midwest.
The railroad industry is not one of the big revenue drivers in Wyoming, though trains hauling coal in the northeast or trona along the south are a common sight. The network of transportation carrying Wyoming’s goods, and the people who man those arteries, are as ubiquitous as sage brush in Wyoming. Workers in the north were shook when coal declined precipitously in 2015 and 2016, but that business has found some stability. The layoffs at UP, and the reasoning behind them, however, have driven new uncertainty into the industry.
“What the future holds I’m not sure,” said Rep. Stan Blake, D-Green River, the state legislative director for SMART, a transportation union. “It’s kind of hush hush, but it’s scary. Are they going to shut down the switching yard in Green River? I hope not.”
***
....
The company shared its plans with workers in an Oct. 16 email: 475 positions would be eliminated by the end of the year, as would 200 additional contract positions. It would also reshuffle organization nationally, consolidating its three regions into two and closing five service units, including the one in Denver that served Wyoming.
....
Heather Richards 307-266-0592, Heather.Richards@trib.com 8 hrs ago
Loads of grain trundled down toward Mexico as summer ended, and strong crude prices drove up the number of rail cars hauling petroleum or liquefied gas by 40 percent. But Union Pacific ended a record third quarter with an announcement that nearly 700 jobs would be cut. ... Most of those workers were management and contractors based in the Midwest.
The railroad industry is not one of the big revenue drivers in Wyoming, though trains hauling coal in the northeast or trona along the south are a common sight. The network of transportation carrying Wyoming’s goods, and the people who man those arteries, are as ubiquitous as sage brush in Wyoming. Workers in the north were shook when coal declined precipitously in 2015 and 2016, but that business has found some stability. The layoffs at UP, and the reasoning behind them, however, have driven new uncertainty into the industry.
“What the future holds I’m not sure,” said Rep. Stan Blake, D-Green River, the state legislative director for SMART, a transportation union. “It’s kind of hush hush, but it’s scary. Are they going to shut down the switching yard in Green River? I hope not.”
***
....
The company shared its plans with workers in an Oct. 16 email: 475 positions would be eliminated by the end of the year, as would 200 additional contract positions. It would also reshuffle organization nationally, consolidating its three regions into two and closing five service units, including the one in Denver that served Wyoming.
....
3 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Response to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)
