JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After CSX Corporation on Tuesday announced that it will lay off 1,000 management employees over the next few weeks, many workers' families have been worrying, asking the question, "What's next?"
On Thursday, News4Jax obtained the 21-page letter that was sent this week to employees of the Jacksonville-based company, offering them a buyout.
But there's a catch.
The beginning of the letter talks about an ISP, which stands for "Involuntary Separation Program," -- separated as in "let go" and without a job.
The letter is about self-selection -- some CSX employees were offered a chance to leave before they're asked to leave.
In the severance package, there are a few carrots:
- An enhanced pay plan, which can give up to a year's salary
- Continuing health benefits, along the same timeline as the salary
- A chance to get a prorated bonus on the company profits
- Extra years on the pension plan
The catch is that it's being offered to workers who have at least eight years of service and are 52 years old, or older.
Many spouses, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed concerns.
A spouse of a CSX worker told News4Jax on Thursday that her husband isn't sleeping at night because they're worried about what's going to happen.
A different person, whose spouse works at CSX and received the letter, said she's upset.
"It's not fair to any of them. You're getting this because of your age. They're making it sound great. It's not," she said. "What are they going to do once that year's salary is gone?"
Tuesday's news came out on the same day the two top executives of Jacksonville's largest Fortune 500 company announced plans to retire this spring. It also comes as the railroad is in discussions with a hedge fund that wants to install the executive who led Canadian Pacific's turnaround at the Jacksonville-based railroad.
RELATED: CSX to lay off 1,000, change leadership
CSX on Tuesday said that chairman and CEO Michael Ward and President Clarence Gooden will both retire at the end of May. Ward previously planned to work through 2019 before retiring.
Another family member said they think Ward is trying to take care of people before he's out of the job and the company changes ownership.
One woman who spoke with News4Jax said her family has decided not to "self-select" -- that the worker simply, "won't do that to himself."
CSX said it has promoted Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Fredrik Eliasson to president.
The railroad said Eliasson's appointment isn't meant to pre-empt discussions with Paul Hilal's Mantle Ridge hedge fund about Hunter Harrison becoming CSX's next CEO. CSX has called for a special shareholder meeting this spring so investors can weigh in on the demands that the hedge fund is making.
"The changes are part of an orderly transition of the company's senior leadership that the board has been considering for more than a year," the company said in a news release.
A CSX spokesman would not agree to an interview Tuesday, and employees didn't want to talk, either.
CSX said its involuntary separation with 1,000 workers -- the majority of them in the Jacksonville corporate office and its subsidiaries -- will be completed in mid- to late March. The company said affected employees will receive separation benefits.
"Until an organization review is completed, we will not know the local impact," CSX spokesman Gary Sease said in a statement.
The CSX website reports that there are 2,500 CSX management employees based in Jacksonville.