Greg Bruhn: CSX won’t benefit all

I’m familiar with many of the economic issues facing Eastern North Carolina residents based on my work experiences involving fellow employees commuting from as far away as Goldsboro, Benson, Four Oaks and Smithfield to work in Raleigh.

The June 1 letter “Multiplying CSX benefits” doesn’t address some significant concerns that arise when residents living in an area don’t benefit from an influx of high-paying jobs.

My family was living in Cary during the 1960s when IBM relocated many employees from the Northeast to work in Research Triangle Park. My father’s salary didn’t increase as a consequence of this mass relocation. I’m not aware of any significant pay raises for my high school teachers that resulted.

What I do remember is that rents and real-estate costs went up.

I won’t deny that good-paying jobs are needed in Eastern North Carolina, and the CSX hub would pay the kind of wages that assure a middle-class lifestyle for CSX employees. There is no guarantee that any or most of the new hires would be local residents.

Twenty-five dollars an hour is more than triple the current minimum wage and significantly more than what local employers are currently able or willing to pay.

This story was originally published June 27, 2016 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Greg Bruhn: CSX won’t benefit all."