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ations will continue there,
but stated the company
would move some of Hin-
kle’s operations to yards in
Portland, Spokane, Ogden,
Utah, Pocatello, Idaho and
Nampa, Idaho.
“The workforce reduc-
tion is the result of acceler-
ating (Union Pacifi c’s) con-
tinuous improvement plan
and implementing Preci-
sion Scheduled Railroading
principles,” he wrote in an
email.
Union Pacifi c announced
its Unifi ed Plan 2020 last
year to improve effi ciency.
It announced record earn-
ings in 2018 of more than
$6 billion, and during a
fi rst quarter earnings call
with shareholders on April
18 announced record 2019
fi rst quarter net income and
a 15% increase in earn-
ings per share compared to
2018, despite the fact that
total volume decreased by
2% compared to the previ-
ous year.
CITY
Continued from Page A1
This year’s I Love My
City cleanup was perfect
timing for Riverfront Park,
which was damaged by
fl oodwaters after the Uma-
tilla River overfl owed its
banks in April. Much of the
heavy lifting has already
been completed, but Satur-
day morning dozens of vol-
unteers were at the park pull-
ing weeds, sweeping dried
mud off the trail and refi ll-
ing the playground area with
bark chips after the river
washed all of them away.
Judy Vogt stood under
the swing set with a rake,
spreading bark chips as
they were dumped in by
the wheelbarrow-load. She
joined the event through
Oasis Vineyard Church.
“My church likes to help
the community,” she said.
“We’re not just a sit-at-home
church.”
WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019
During the call, Chief
Operating Offi cer Jim
Vena said UP increased
train length by 7% and was
focused on reducing “touch
points” where trains are han-
dled. He said the company
had “stopped humping cars
at Hinkle and Pine Bluff,
Arkansas, and curtailed yard
operations in Salt Lake City,
the Kansas City complex
and Butler Yard in Wiscon-
sin, to name a few.”
State Rep. Greg Smith,
R-Heppner, called the cuts
at Hinkle “devastating” for
the area.
“These are good family
wage jobs with benefi ts,”
Smith said. “That job loss is
going to have a signifi cant
economic effect throughout
the region.”
State Sen. Bill Hansell,
R-Athena, said he found out
about the job cuts Tuesday
afternoon.
Hansell
questioned
whether legislation such
as the recent gross receipts
tax is making neighbor-
ing state’s more attractive
to business. That’s been the
talk in some circles at the
Capitol, he said, and perhaps
Union Pacifi c relocating
operations from Hinkle to
Idaho and Washington sig-
nals that is happening. How-
ever, Hansell cautioned, he
does not know if that’s the
case here.
George Murdock, chair
of the Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners,
said Union Pacifi c has long
been a “major employer” in
the county.
“These are the kind of
jobs people occupy for an
entire career, so their loss is
particularly acute,” he said.
“I had heard rumors that it
was a possibility but had
hoped it was only a rumor.”
Murdock said his under-
standing was Union Pacifi c
would continue to have a
presence at Hinkle and the
county will remain a major
freight route. He said it will
be important to work with
the unions and affected
employees in the coming
months.
While the jobs repre-
sent a signifi cant loss for the
area, Hermiston’s increas-
ingly diversifi ed economy
helps absorb the blow. Drot-
zmann pointed to the clo-
sure of the Simplot plant
in 2004 and the closure of
Hermiston Foods in 2017
as an example of times that
Hermiston lost one of its
largest employers but con-
tinued to grow.
“This community is
really resilient,” he said.
That might be small com-
fort to the employees whose
jobs have been cut in recent
months. Locals took to com-
munity Facebook forums on
Tuesday to share that family
members had been laid off
or to share condolences with
friends who had lost jobs.
Oregon has designated
CAPECO in Pendleton as
the lead organization for
when major job losses occur
in Hermiston, and CAPECO
will conduct trainings and
job fairs for former Hinkle
employees in June. In the
meantime, some employ-
ees will be eligible to apply
for transfer to one of Union
Pacifi c’s other rail yards.
She said she was enjoy-
ing meeting new people at
the event and was happy to
see all ages participating.
Sharon Welsheimer said
it was her fi rst time partici-
pating in the I Love My City
cleanup day because she has
been out of town previous
years.
“We love our city, what
can I say?” she said when
asked what brought her out
to the park that morning.
Gina Castillo, who was
weeding the landscaping
around the park’s paths,
echoed that sentiment.
“The name says every-
thing,” she said. “I love my
city and I want to be a part
of it.”
On the other side of
the park, Hermiston High
School’s Eco Club was
painting over the graffi ti
covering the underside of
the Highland Avenue bridge.
Rachel Cairns, the club’s
advisor, said they were hop-
ing to persuade the city that
the area needed to be cov-
ered with a mural and a
statue now that the new
West Highland Trail travels
underneath.
“Research shows that
once you beautify a public
space in a more permanent
way, graffi ti artists tend to
leave it alone,” she said.
Harrison Temple, who
was using a roller to spread
gray paint over names and
swear words scrawled over
the underside of the bridge,
said most of the graffi ti
wasn’t very family-friendly
and he was glad to help get
rid of it, but there were a few
things that he was a little sad
to paint over.
“This is something we’ve
been planning for a long
time, but this is the city step-
ping in and giving us some
resources,” he said. “This
is not the end of what we
want to do here. We want to
make it a family-friendly art
space.”
Saturday’s cleanup also
included sending volunteers
to wash cars for free and to
show some “laundry love”
by cleaning up laundromats
and offering to pay for peo-
ples’ laundry.
Pastor Terry Haight said
the event encompassed eight
churches and 12 locations
on Saturday.
“I think we got a lot
done,” he said.
On Sunday those congre-
gations met for a joint wor-
ship service at the Eastern
Oregon Trade and Event
Center. Haight said the ser-
vice raised more than $6,000
toward the rebuilding of
Funland Park, and participat-
ing churches pledged to con-
tinue collecting offerings.
Residents who wish to
participate in future I Love
My City events can keep
an eye on the website www.
ilovehermiston.com
for
announcements.
Contributed photo
A student interviews for an internship in Morrow County.
Morrow County
works to connect
students with jobs
BY HERMISTON HERALD
Students in Morrow
County will soon have
the opportunity to work
right in their own back-
yard through a new pro-
gram, the Morrow County
Student Internship Pro-
gram. Several partners are
involved in the program
— Morrow County School
District, Ione School Dis-
trict, the Port of Morrow,
the InterMountain Edu-
cation Service District
and multiple community
businesses.
The program is funded
through the Morrow Edu-
cation Foundation, which
receives funds from CREZ
11.
The internships are
open to high school
seniors and juniors who
qualify. Students will be
employees of the IMESD
and will be paid mini-
mum wage. Students can
receive high school credit
for their work experience,
but must maintain 90%
attendance at school and
at their place of work.
More than 25 busi-
nesses are on board to
hire interns, including
Bank of Eastern Ore-
gon, City of Boardman,
Columbia River Health,
Port of Morrow, Morrow
County Grain Growers,
Blue Mountain Manufac-
turing, Boardman Foods
and Lamb-Weston. Stu-
dents will learn from med-
ical providers, mechanics,
analysts and IT profes-
sionals representing multi-
ple trades as they navigate
potential career pathways.
Students will start
working this fall when
school is back in session.
Jobs are available for a
semester or the entire
school year. Students will
work an average of 10
hours per week.
The students applied
for the jobs in April and
went through the inter-
viewing process on May
14 and 15.
For more information
about the program, please
contact Kalie Davis,
Workforce Training Pro-
gram Manager at the Port
of Morrow, at kalied@
portofmorrow.com.
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