AM I NEXT? IS THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL AT KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN LINES

Kansas City, Missouri-based Kansas City Southern Lines a transportation holding company with railroad investments, is being acquired by the Calgary, Canada-based Canadian Pacific Railway, the iconic Canadian railway for approximately $29 billion.

Kansas City Southern CEO Patrick Ottensmeyer is attempting to reassure the Kansas City community leadership and its own employees that jobs are secure.

"I know Kansas City over the last decade or so has been the net loss of jobs because of mergers and other types of transactions. Kansas City is going to be an incredibly important part of this network as you look at the map, it’s really dead center in the network connecting Mexico, Canada and the U.S.”

Unfortunately, pronouncements that fall short of promises always seem to fall by the wayside as the surviving organization reduces redundancies, managementm functions, and infrastructure. While transportation hubs and operations tend to be in strategic fixed location. However, managerial staff and support personnel can be located almost anywhere.

While Kansas City Southern's headquarters in downtown Kansas City and Kansas City is expected to become the U.S. headquarters for Canadian Pacific, Canadian Pacific’s current U.S. headquarters is in Minneapolis, which will remain a base of operations for Canadian Pacific Kansas City.

The benefit for both rail systems is there is no overlapping trackage and shippers can deal with a single company for rail transportation from Canada to Mexico through the United States.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT ARCOSA MARINE

Dallas, Texas-based Arcosa Marine, operator of shipbuilding and repair facilities specializing in vessels for inland and coastal waterways, has announced the closure of its St. Tammany shipyard located in Madisonville, Louisiana.

The closure will impact its remaining 100 workers in stages from May 2021 through September 2021. These layoffs are a second round following 66 layoffs several months ago.

According to a company spokesperson, "Liquid barge demand remains depressed by reduced demand for refined products and petrochemicals, which began declining during the COVID pandemic and has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. We are optimistic about a recovery, but that is unlikely to occur in time for 2021 production. We are committed to identifying business opportunities for the facility and exploring all feasible options for retaining employees."

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT MASSPORT

Boston, Massachusetts-based Massachusetts Port Authority, the port authority owner-operator of various public infrastructure including airports—Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field, Worcester Regional Airport, and public terminals in the Port of Boston, has announced the layoff off 200 employees

The decision was driven to reduce headcount to compensate for historically lower passenger activity at Logan International.

According to a spokesperson, "Approximately a third of the targeted cuts have come through a voluntary buyout program. that offered a $20,000 one-time lump sum payment to eligible union employees if they retired by January 1, 2021 and a similar offer of $20,000 payment to administrative employees who chose to leave by early January, 2021. The remainder 200 people would be involuntarily laid off.These cuts are impacting all departments and are painful decisions. We are thankful for the work of our dedicated staff.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?