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No, Amtrak Is Not Planning Beech Grove Layoffs
November 4, 2022
By Rail Passengers Staff
In a meeting this morning with Amtrak executive leadership, Association President & CEO Jim Mathews confirmed that Amtrak is not laying off staff at the Beech Grove, Indiana, maintenance shops.
Amtrak told Mathews “we are not laying off anyone, anywhere.”
The online rumor started three days ago when a person claimed to have spoken to an affected employee, a story that quickly ran into skepticism from other posters on the board who know that Amtrak is desperately short of staff right now.
“Amtrak is scrambling to rebuild its workforce after the Covid-driven reductions, and is nowhere near staffed enough even to get coaches and sleepers out on the road,” RPA’s Mathews said. “The idea that Amtrak would be cutting anyone right now, let alone someone involved in working down the backlog at a key maintenance facility, is utterly implausible and would be irresponsible if it were true. Fortunately, we learned this morning that it is not true.”
So far this year Amtrak has hired 3,728 new employees, including 644 in the vital Mechanical crafts – 100 of those mechanical workers in just the past month alone.
"The COVID Pandemic has been and continues to be the biggest challenge faced by Americans as it has taken a deadly toll on the world and on the world’s economies. During COVID Locomotive Engineers at Amtrak and other Passenger and Freight Railroads have embodied the definition of essential workers. This dedication by our members is not new. We applaud the Rail Passenger’s Association for recognizing the vital contributions of our members and their hard work moving Americans and freight during the COVID pandemic."
Dennis Pierce, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) National President
December 21, 2021, on the Association awarding its 2021 Golden Spike Award to the Frontline Amtrak Employees.
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