NORTH PLATTE, Neb. -- Union Pacific Railroad announced Thursday (Jan. 8) it is temporarily laying off hundreds of employees. In the North Platte area, about 231 workers will be off the job, television station KNOP-TV reported.
UP officials said this is a direct result of the fallout from the auto industry. GM is one of UP's biggest customers. There is no word on how long the layoffs will last.
(The preceding appeared on the Web site of KNOP-TV at new.khastv.com on January 8, 2008.)
OMAHA -- Union Pacific Corp. has laid off or reduced the work hours of about 1,500 of its 21,000 engineers and conductors because of the struggling economy, the World Herald reports.
More than half the affected workers have continued to work or to train eight days a month, spokesman Mark Davis said Nov. 14. They continue to receive health insurance coverage and service credit toward retirement benefits, he said.
About 40 percent of the 1,500 are not working, Davis said.
Approximately 110 of the workers in "auxiliary work and training status" were in the North Platte area, a major staging ground for the Omaha-based railroad's operations. About 70 workers in the Council Bluffs and Boone, Iowa, service area are working or training at reduced hours.
The number of employees working under reduced hours or being laid off can fluctuate as work needs change and active workers retire and are replaced, Davis said.
Employees at the railroad's headquarters so far have escaped effects of the slowdown, Davis said. The company also has continued hiring in some areas, such as diesel mechanics and electricians, Davis said.
Union Pacific employs 49,000 in its 23-state network.
The company and the United Transportation Union negotiated the "auxiliary work and training status" so the railroad can quickly ramp up service after a slowdown, Davis said. The agreement took effect in December 2003, but the railroad did not have to use it until a slow period was experienced last year, he said.
In the years before the agreement, the railroad's only option was laying off workers during a slowdown and then providing refresher training before they returned to work, a longer process, Davis said.
The agreement helps workers retain their benefits, and they can get part-time jobs to supplement their income, Davis said.
"We understand the hardship this puts on our employees, with fewer hours working," Davis said. Hopefully, eight paid workdays a month and continued benefits help, he said.
Despite a reduction in volume shipped, Union Pacific's earnings have been strong because of higher prices for its service, improved recovery of fuel costs and greater productivity. Net income for the three months ended Sept. 30 was up 32 percent over the same period last year, to $703 million, or $1.38 per share.
The automotive sector has accounted for the greatest drop in volume, with a 24 percent decline in carloadings in the third quarter compared with last year.
-- Edited by Snippy at 11:21, 2009-01-09
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I think LAMCo is done with the neo-nazi CSX rejects -- Pipes FC 8/5/23
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. - In these tough economic times and with the Union Pacific Railroad having to furlough many of its employees, it might be nice to learn that your pay was doubled, but not when you have to give it back, the North Platte Telegraph reports.
On Thursday (Jan. 8), Union Pacific employees who receive direct deposit learned that their bank accounts had been fattened up by double paychecks due to a slight glitch in a new pay system set up by Union Pacific for their employees. The new system paid the employees, but so did the old one.
According to Corporate Relations and Media Director Mark Davis, the miscue was caught by the railroad and action has been taken to rectify the situation.
"It seems that our union employees who receive direct deposit were double-paid [Thursday]," he said. "Anyone who receives a paycheck other than direct deposit were not affected and we are working with the banks to rectify this as quickly as we can."
Davis said Union Pacific employees don't have to do anything themselves and that it would be taken care of for them.
"The employees don't have to worry about doing anything," he said. "We've let all of our employees know about what happened and we'll take care of the problem along with the banks we are working with. We do want to let our employees know that we are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused for them."
Davis said that should any employees incur extra charges due to the mishap, Union Pacific would review each and every case and compensate the employees if it is deemed to be the fault of the financial hiccup. Davis did not have information as to whether or not the accounts set up by Union Pacific for payroll would also be impacted by the double payment to an undetermined number of employees.
(This item appeared Jan. 11, 2009, in the Telegraph.)
(The following appeared on the North Platte Bulletin website on January 14.)
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. Union Pacific Railroad blamed the slowing economy for furloughing about 230 workers in North Platte.
Chad Wilbourn, UP's general superintendent for the North Platte service area, delivered the news on Jan. 8. About 230 people will be furloughed until business improves and they can be called back to work.
In November, UP announced that it had laid off or cut hours for about 1,500 engineers and conductors since January 2007.
"While Union Pacific does not disclose furlough numbers, the economy is affecting all the railroads," said Tom Lange, director of corporate communications, according to Forbes magazine.
UP is pulling back across the country as the recession forces cost cutting measures.
Union Pacific has 21,000 engineers and conductors. It operates 32,400 miles of track in 23 states from the Midwest to the West and Gulf coasts.
Freight traffic in 2008 was low for all U.S. railroads compared with last year's volume.
The layoff news came just one day after UP announced it had set an all-time record for delivering coal out of Wyomings Southern Powder River Basin.
During 2008, Union Pacific loaded 13,212 trains out of the SPRB, 332 more trains than 2006, the previous yearly record. Union Pacific also loaded 204.6 million tons of coal out of the SPRB during 2008, eclipsing another all-time mark set in 2007 by 5 percent.
