Union leadership says rail company CSX Transportation is laying off 21 workers across several crafts at its mechanical repair facility in Waterville.
CSX is one of the largest rail-transport companies in the country and brought in $14.09 billion in revenue during FY2025. It operates approximately 20,000 miles of track in states east of the Mississippi River.
The move comes three years after CSX purchased Pan Am Railways, extending its reach into Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
“This is about pure greed,” said Josh Hartford, special assistant to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers President, Rail Division, in a press release. “It’s a tough blow and it was definitely unexpected because these guys had consistently heard from CSX that they did great work. They were filling a void that CSX couldn't do, but then they just came in one day unannounced and informed them that they were being laid off."
Impacted workers included mechanists, electricians and carmen. Many are members of IAM Local 318, SMART-Mechanical, SMART-Transportation, the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, and IBEW at the Waterville Engine House and Back Shop.
Most of the workers were "50-55 years old" and within a few years of retirement.
"Workers will have to either uproot their families to New York or Maryland to finish out their last few months of employment or take the severance package and take a 30% pension penalty," according to the release.
CSX Transportation did not respond to requests for comment but told WMTW 8 the move was "to better utilize resources and personnel."
Jason Gibbs is general chairman for the IAM Rail Division, District 19. He says just five machinists and four electricians will remain on the site after March 1.
"There was no lead-up," Gibbs said. "CSX had always told the machinists working there that they were doing a very good job. They were productive. They never had any kind of issues with the work that they were doing."
IAM 318 Chairman Patrick Morse said before CSX bought Pan Am Railways, most locomotive parts were built and repaired in-house at the historic Waterville Engine House and Back Shop. He says the building will likely shut down within a couple of years.
“When CSX bought us, they shut that all down and started buying parts and shipping them up here," he said in the press release. "And now they're saying it's too expensive to keep us going. But they did it to themselves because we've been self-sufficient for years.”
