“Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railway announced last week that it was cutting 362 jobs from its Mechanical Department. This comes after a 4th quarter 2023 profit in excess of $1.3 billion. The largest Class I railroads, only six of which exist in the US, are among the most profitable companies in the United States, with total 2023 profits in excess of $24 billion.”
“The cuts are a continuation of the “Precision Scheduled Railroading” (PSR) scheme first introduced by late CSX CEO Hunter Harrison and then by his imitators. This resulted in the elimination of approximately 30,000 positions throughout the Class I carriers, with stress and overwork for remaining employees due to understaffing, insufficiently maintained equipment, service meltdowns, and which most significantly culminated in a near strike by angry rail workers. A strike that was betrayed at the last minute by the rail union bureaucracies.”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/03/04/xzls-m04.html