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by Timothy J. Gibbons <br /> <br />CSX Corp. is eliminating about 10 percent of its dispatcher jobs in <br />Jacksonville,FL and moving the positions to other locations, the company <br />told the dispatchers' union Monday. <br /> <br />Although several employees have said they fear the moves are the <br />beginning of widespread cuts in the ranks of the 340 dispatchers who <br />work here, CSX officials have said there are no plans to further scale <br />back the workforce. <br /> <br />The announcement of job cuts comes on the heels of union members telling <br />the company they are considering going on strike because of concerns <br />about new dispatching software that has proven difficult to use, <br />according to two union members who asked not to be named because of <br />concerns about their jobs. <br /> <br />The first round of cuts will come toward the end of January: 20 <br />dispatchers positions in Jacksonville, FL will be cut, with 15 of those <br />jobs moving to CSX's dispatch operation center in Chicago, IL. The other <br />five workers will be absorbed into other jobs in the company. According <br />to the union and the company, CSX then plans on cutting another 15 jobs <br />here in order to move them to Indianapolis, IN. <br /> <br />The positions being eliminated here handled trains traveling near <br />Chicago, IL and the Great Lakes region. <br /> <br />CSX has four dispatch centers responsible for routing trains along its <br />21,000 miles of track. The vast majority of dispatchers have been <br />concentrated in Jacksonville, FL since 1988, when the company <br />established a centralized operating facility that oversees the entire <br />network. <br /> <br />Twenty-five dispatchers now work in Chicago, IL, as well as 340 in <br />Jacksonville, FL, 80 in Albany, NY, and 65 in Indianapolis, IN. <br /> <br />Moving jobs from Jacksonville, FL to the other centers is necessary <br />because of operational need s, said CSX spokesman Gary Sease. <br /> <br />Despite employee fears, Sease said, "We are committed to our centralized <br />dispatching center here in Jacksonville, FL. Any adjustments in staffing <br />would not involve a large number of people." <br /> <br />Dispatchers are also concerned about CSX's Next Generation Dispatching <br />system, a new computer system some dispatchers have been complaining <br />about for more than a year, saying it makes their job more difficult and <br />leads to safety problems. <br /> <br />"The union views it as a serious issue that is putting our job in <br />jeopardy," said one of the union members. "It's not working like it's <br />supposed to." <br /> <br />Six dispatchers have been fired in the past month, in part because they <br />have not been able to work efficiently with the new system, the union <br />official said, and partly because of other issues with management. The <br />company refused to comment on the issue, citing its policy about not <br />commenting on labor negotiations. <br /> <br />Representatives from the local chapter of the American Train Dispatchers <br />Association have been in talks with the national office about the <br />possibility of a strike, one union member said. <br /> <br />"It could have some further consequences," the member said. "I don't <br />want it to get out that we're going to walk out or anything, but it's <br />getting along that line." <br />
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