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Meetings to be held to lay out options for furloughed CSX workers
Posted On 28 Oct 2015
What happens next with the 180 employees affected by CSX’s decision to shut down the locomotive shop, service center and car shop at its Corbin facility and how the decision will affect the community will begin to clarify Monday.
Melanie Cost, a spokesperson for CSX, said a benefits open house for the affected employees is being planned for Monday at The Corbin Center.
“This will be an opportunity for the employees to sit down with a person from CSX human resources who can walk the employee through their specific situation and answer any questions,” Cost said, adding the company is working with local and state entities such as the Kentucky Career Center, to further aid employees concerning education and job retraining opportunities.
“It is really important to us to present them with as many resources as possible,” Cost said. “We made a commitment to support them as much as possible.”
Melody Haynes, rapid response coordinator for the career center, said CSX is already doing much of what the career center would be doing to assist the displaced employees.
Given the skills of some of the displaced workers, Haynes said representatives from several companies have contacted the career center about getting resumes from some of those workers.
“We will work with the employees to see what other jobs are available to match their individual skill sets,” Haynes said, noting some of those jobs may require the employees to commute or possibly relocate.
In addition, the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board operates a free job placement service tasked with helping experienced railroad workers who have lost their jobs to find new employment.
As to what will happen to the buildings, Cost said that decision has yet to be made.
CSX’s real estate team is in the process of evaluating the facilities to determine whether they may be put up for sale.
“They will look at the function of the buildings and the proximity to active part of the yard among other things,” Cost said, noting the process can take several weeks.
Should CSX elect not to sell the buildings, Cost said it is unknown what the future might hold for them.
“It is always a possibility the facilities could be reopened, but to be realistic, we don’t have plans to open the shops,” Cost said.
Shawn Huddleston, owner of Huddleston Real Estate said he has seen a few more houses come onto the market in Corbin, but noted the market has been extremely active this year.
“This is the third year I have been in business and this is the busiest year ever,” Huddleston said, adding that the housing market has recovered and even exceeded the level it had reached prior to the crash in 2008.
CSX officials announced the layoffs and closing of the facilities effective Oct. 20, citing the continued downturn in the coal market and the amount of traffic through the Corbin yard.
“We know, and deeply regret that the company’s reduced activity will make already difficult area economic conditions worse,” CSX Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Ward stated.
“Going forward, CSX will continue to examine ways to size the coal business appropriately,” Ward added. “While the conditions are tough, coal accounts for roughly 30 percent of electrical generation in the U.S., and coal remains an important CSX market with active mines in both Central Appalachia and the Illinois Basis. That said, to assure investment and a compelling future for the company and its team, we simply have to direct resources and strategies to growth opportunities, especially domestic intermodal shipments and merchandise traffic.”
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smokescreen & trump 16 / Democrats are not the reason. The culprit here is NATURAL GAS. It is so plentiful and cheap. The War on Coal is a republican scare tactic which they are good at. Also greedy republican corporations has sent manufacturing jobs overseas closing factories and plants that used coal to power. Wake up people!!!
Did you happen to forget your Democrats are the reason there’s no coal rebel ? Do you want to have someone keep you working or just provide you with a handout. Go trump..
As I am constantly seeing articles about the closures in Erwin and Corbin, no one seems wary of the fact that currently there are upwards of 2000 people furloughed right now with csx. These jobs may be lost to the local economy but the employees are all union and will in turn move to other locations and bump the junior guys out and they will be the ones paying the price. The rr has and always will continue to be grossly negligent in their hiring practices. Take it from me, I was transplanted 600 miles to hold a job, and yes ,10 years later I’m still bitter too….
The Kentucky Career Center is OPEN to ANYONE….Remember CSX still wants to be “liked” in the community, so you are seeing what they want you to see. The men that worked there also paid into a union, and it is not cheap….this does help out, or is supposed to help out with future jobs in this industry or qualified “other” jobs.
once an idiot always an idiot …. voting democrat won’t help matter, just make them worse; we need a total overhaul in our country and start from top and go all the way down. politicians don’t care about us !!
That why the people of SE KY should vote Democratic. They take care of the workers who get screw by greedy corporations. Unemployment benefits, food stamps, health ins. are issues the Republicans always are cutting. These are items that the laid off worker needs to get by on until they can recover to another job. Please stop voting against your own interest!!
I guess every non-railroader who lost a job in Corbin or London has to make due with finding another job without any help. I dont see anyone rushing to help those temp workers who have worked hard to get hired on and months later they get tossed aside like a used rag. At least these people will have a paycheck for a couple months to give them time to transition to another job. Temp workers get crap…they are treated like second hand citizens and have no rights at all. The laws only protect companies and not individuals. Sorry, it’s hard to feel sorry for someone that was laid off that made 3 times the wages and had better benefits than anyone else in Corbin.