ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 10, 1997 TAG: 9704100055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON NIXON THE ROANOKE TIMES
Some were relieved, some worried, but all know the railroad merger would affect their lives one way or another.
The day after Norfolk Southern and CSX reached an agreement to divide up Conrail's shipping routes, the feelings of NS workers in Roanoke varied from relief that the deal was to done to worry about job security.
For months, rumors circulated that the deal between the two companies might cause NS to eliminate some jobs in Roanoke - where 3,200 people are employed. But a company spokesman said the railroad had no plans to cut jobs in the city.
Guy Winterbothan, who has worked in the computer department at NS for three years, said Wednesday he's glad it's over, but he didn't think the agreement would have an impact on his job.
"It doesn't affect me directly," he said, "In terms of my job, it's more stuff to put into the computers. But it's not a question of them keeping me. If I were working for Conrail, however, I'd be worried."
A female employee, who asked not to be named, felt differently. " I'm guardedly optimistic that I will continue to have a job," she said.
Jim Pacanowski, who works in the NS marketing department, sees the deal as a positive for the company and workers. "Considering where we were six months ago, this is a good thing," he said. "CSX was going to get the whole thing. But with this agreement, the East Coast should benefit from better rates and better services. And rail growth will keep employment in the Roanoke area strong."
Some workers at Norfolk Southern's railyard-repair shops, just down the street from the company's downtown offices, said they are somewhat worried despite assurance from a company spokesman that no jobs would be cut locally
"Like any merger, someone's going to lose their jobs; we just hope it's not going to be ours," said Barry Doss, who works at the repair shop.
Norfolk & Western Railway "said that before when they merged with Southern [Railway]. I think both railroads lost nearly half their people," he said. "I'd say it'll be about four or five years before we're sure."
Robert Lehman, an employee for 23 years at the railroad-repair shop, said he wasn't sure what's going to happen.
"They don't tell us anything," he said. "We're happy to see the agreement. But we won't know anything until they get all the paperwork signed."
Al Bennett, a sheet-metal worker, said he didn't know much about the deal. "To tell you the truth, you guys know more than we do," he said. "We usually don't know anything until [Norfolk Southern] makes an official statement to the newspapers, then we find out about it. Mostly we're left in the dark."
A Roanoke-based union official said the railroad unions' top executives hope to meet soon with railroad executives to discuss employment issues. The railroads' chiefs have predicted the merger would create rail jobs. CSX Chairman John Snow has said workers may have to relocate or perform different duties.
"We want to find out what kind of job security our people have, and are the jobs going to stay in the same places, or are the jobs going to go someplace?" said Jack Medley, a general chairman in the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, which represents 375 to 400 Roanoke workers who build and maintain freight cars and inspect trains in the yards. "Every craft, that's their concern, because every merger, people end up losing jobs."
LENGTH: Medium: 64 linesby CNB