Alpha Natural Resources scaling back central Appalachian mining operations; 439 jobs will be lost

Bristol Herald Courier ^ | May 22, 2015 | SUSAN CAMERON

[don-o]

BRISTOL, Va. -- Alpha Natural Resources announced this afternoon that it's idling the mining and processing operations at Rockspring Development Camp Creek underground mine in Wayne County, West Virginia, which will mean the loss of 439 jobs.

Employees were notified today about the idling "based on the mine operator's current assessment of market conditions,"according to a news release issued by Alpha Natural Resources.

Last week, three other Alpha-affiliated mine operators announced reductions in work force "due to sustained weak market conditions and government regulations that have challenged the entire central Appalachian coal industry. A total of 71 employees were affected in mines in Mill Branch Coal's Dorchester and North Fork underground mines in Wise County, Virginia; Knox Creek Coal's Tiller No. 1 underground mine in Tazewell County; and two mines in Knott and Letcher counties in Kentucky.

Alpha’s Chairman and CEO Kevin Crutchfield said, “This is an unprecedented time in the coal industry and Alpha continues to take difficult but necessary actions to ensure that our production is aligned with the reduced market demand we see today and anticipate in the future. These actions are consistent with steps we have taken in the past to build a smaller but more sustainable portfolio of mining assets across our operational footprint.”

[Graybeard58]

More good jobs obamafied.

[aposiopetic]

And unemployment is already off-the-charts high in those localities.

[ChicagahAl]

...government regulations that have challenged the entire central Appalachian coal industry...

Tsk, tsk, tsk. NAFTA is still killing jobs.

Darn that Republican President, Bill Clinton, for signing it!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Thanks, Barky !

[KeyLargo]

Updated: Friday, May 22, 2015 | Jeffrey A. Morris Mine Layoffs In Wayne, Monongalia Counties Could Affect More Than 1,000 Workers

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia mining industry employees and their families were dealt a major setback Friday as notices of expected layoffs were issued for more than 1,000 workers.

In Wayne County, 439 employees at Rockspring Development's Camp Creek Underground Mine and Processing Plant were notified that the facilities were expected to be idled, according to a news release from Alpha Natural Resources.

Meanwhile, the Monongalia County Coal Co. issued a notice of a massive layoff at the Monongalia County Mine located on Shamrock Road in Wana. The coal company said in a news release that it would affect 428 United Mine Workers of America workers and 160 nonunion employees.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin sent out a statement about the latest hit for the mining industry, calling the situation "heartbreaking for our miners, their families and the communities in which they live."

The announcement by Alpha of the expected layoffs in Wayne County did not specify a date. All of the Monongalia County layoffs are expected to be by Aug. 7.

4:30 p.m. UPDATE: Murray Energy Layoffs Planned Company may idle about 1,800 workers at nine sites May 22, 2015

From Staff Reports , The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register

WHEELING - A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice filed with Work Force West Virginia Friday afternoon indicates Murray Energy will lay off 588 coal miners from the Monongalia County Mine by July 24.

The work force reductions are part of what is expected to total about 1,800 Murray Energy layoffs. The mine operated as the Consol Energy Blacksville Mine prior to Murray acquiring it as part of a $3.5 billion deal Dec. 5, 2013.

St. Clairsville-based Murray operates coal mines in both Ohio and West Virginia. The 1,800 anticipated layoffs equate to roughly 20 percent of the company's total work force. A weak coal market, coupled with large coal stockpiles and an increase in the use of natural gas for power generation, has hit the company hard recently. Coal prices have declined steadily over the past year, and are lower now than natural gas.

[don-o]

Thanks for posting.

[backwoods-engineer]

Directly related to the Obamatrons’ War on Coal.

[KeyLargo]

Reassuring: Number Of Foreign Workers In U.S. Job Market Hits 25.7 Million…

The unemployment rate for foreign-born workers in the U.S. fell to 5.6% in 2014 from 6.9% in 2013, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday, reflecting the overall firming up of the labor market last year.

The unemployment rate for the native-born fell to 6.3% last year from 7.5% in 2013.

Since 2009, when the national unemployment rate peaked, joblessness among foreign-born workers has fallen by 4.1 percentage points. The drop was 2.9 percentage points for the native born.

The report is compiled annually from the Current Population Survey. Foreign-born workers are those living in the U.S. who were not U.S. citizens at birth and who were born outside the country to parents who were not themselves U.S. citizens, according to the BLS.

The number of foreign-born workers kept rising. Last year, there were 25.7 million in the U.S., up from 25.3 million in 2013. They accounted for 16.5% of the labor force in 2014, up from 16.3% the year before and 15.5% in 2009, the year the recovery began.

Keep Reading…

http://www.weaselzippers.us/

[buckalfa]

"And unemployment is already off-the-charts high in those localities."

Neither political party cares. The coalfields do not carry enough electoral votes to matter one way or the other.

[Gator113]

Don’t worry.....Obama’s “shovel ready jobs” are just around the corner.

[CPT Clay]

Thank you Mr Obama for your war on coal.

[DownInFlames]

Clinton was a democrat.

[ChicagahAl]

Clinton was a democrat.

Sarcasm.

However, since people keep telling me that the Republicans are responsible for NAFTA; I figure that Clinton was not only the country's "First Black President", he must also be the first "Republican Democrat".

Or something.

[bert]

for ever miner there are perhaps three support jobs lost as well