BNSF furloughs workers

BNSF Railway Co. confirmed Monday that the company is in the process of placing workers on furlough and reducing its hiring plans.

“Customers’ volumes in the near term have come down somewhat from prior estimates,” BNSF spokesman Matthew Jones stated in an email.” As a result, we are having to adjust our work force demand numbers down to match volume and the work required to move that volume.”

The company also will reduce its hiring plans for “the next several months.”

Jones wouldn’t specify the number of furloughs for Northwest Montana, but the move appears to be nationwide. In Nebraska, the same company statement was given to the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star on April 30.

But a large furlough could send shock waves through small communities such as Havre and Whitefish, two key points on the railroad’s northern route.

Kevin Garland, executive director of the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce, said that the company employs as many as 375 people in town. It’s second only to Whitefish Mountain Resort in employment numbers.

“It’s one of the larger employers in town,” Garland said.

News of locally furloughed workers hadn’t come through the Whitefish Chamber as of Monday morning, Garland said.

BNSF added 7,000 employees in 2014, BNSF Chief Executive Officer Carl Ice said in the company’s latest annual report. They made plans for a $6 billion capital investment program this year, according to the report.

BNSF is calling the furloughs temporary but did not give a timeline. According to the statement, the company expects “to call the furloughed employees back as soon as business needs require.”