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Today FreightCar America in Barton (mailing address Cherokee) in Colbert County announced 145 layoffs. The company cited a slight downturn in the economy related to rail cars and promised to rehire those permanent employees who were affected as soon as possible.
Many immediately emailed us asking if OSHA violations or similar problems at the plant had contributed to this decision. That we don't have an answer to, but we can enumerate some interesting fine statistics from the plant's record. There have been at least nine government fines levied against the company since 2004. Four of these have been at the Barton plant since 2015 and are enumerated below.
OSHA February 24, 2015 Safety Violation $7,000.00
OSHA September 29, 2015 Safety Violation $5,000.00
National Labor Relations Board November 4, 2015 Unfair Practice $60,000.00
OSHA March 3, 2018 Safety Violation $12,934.00
A fatal incident from last November and at least one other incident is still being investigated and does not appear in the above list. Will FreightCar America return a stronger and wiser economic force in the Shoals area? Sadly, no one knows the answer to that.
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