A union official says a coal mine in northern West Virginia has been idled, with 260 workers losing their jobs, apparently because of adverse geological conditions and market issues.
Phil Smith, spokesman for the United Mine Workers of America, tells The Exponent Telegram in Clarksburg that another 59 people were laid off a few months ago at the Federal No. 2 mine owned by ERP Compliant Fuels, which has no other mine to transfer the workers to.
He says a few workers remain to prevent flooding and keep the mine ready to reopen, but coal reserves were getting thin.
The company did not reply to a request for comment.
In September, CEO Ken McCoy told Platts.com that the mine had some roof falls and other geological issues.
Several organizations throughout Appalachia will see federal grant money. Funds are designed to help strengthen coal-impacted economies.
The Appalachian Regional Commission announced nearly $2 million additional dollars this week for regions in Appalachia that have been affected by job losses related to the declining coal industry.
The funding is aimed to help retrain individuals in new careers, such as agriculture, technology, construction, or strategic planning for social growth in Central Appalachia.
The grant comes from the Appalachian Regional Commission’s POWER Initiative. That $2 million is in addition to $94 million that was already awarded throughout 11 Appalachian states in the past year.
Charleston Area Medical Center plans to cut 300 positions by the end of 2017. The announcement came in a 7-and-a-half-minute video from CAMC president and CEO Dave Ramsey.
In the video, Ramsey said CAMC was on track to lose 40 million dollars in the first few months of 2017. CAMC implemented a hiring freeze in January of 2017, and plans to cut programs and eliminate 300 positions. 56 of the 300 will come from vacant positions left by the hiring freeze.
Ramsey cited West Virginia’s declining economy, rising drug prices, and the nursing shortage for the financial challenges. He also pointed out that the hospital sees a high number of people on government insurance, such as PEIA, Medicare and Medicaid which reimburses below the cost of treatment, as part of the problem.
“In fact, commercially insured patients make up only 17 percent of our patients, down from 20 percent in 2012,” he said. “Three percentage points represent nearly 50 million dollars per year in our bottom line.”
Ramsey said all departments will now be required to operate at 100 percent productivity starting in August of 2017.
CAMC has about 7,000 workers and is West Virginia’s third-largest private employer behind WVU Medicine and Walmart.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.
Mohawk Industries Inc. says it is closing a wood flooring manufacturing plant in southern West Virginia, idling 111 workers.
The plant at the Buck Harless Wood Products Industrial Park in Holden will close by May 7 and its operations will be moved to a recently upgraded facility in Melbourne, Arkansas.
Mohawk president of laminate and hardwood Gary Lanser says the closing reflects a reduction in customer demand for solid wood flooring products.
Mohawk vice president of human resource Jerry Hendrix says the company will assist employees with retraining opportunities, job fairs and unemployment benefits.
Mohawk acquired the plants in Holden and Melbourne from Columbia Wood Flooring in 2007.
Thursday, September 25th marks the end of an era for the 167th Airlift Wing in Martinsburg. The National Guard unit is getting the first of eight C-17 aircrafts, which will eventually replace the 11 C-5s that have been on the base since 2006. This transition comes at a price. About 160 fulltime positions are going away, but the West Virginia National Guard is trying to help the people affected find other jobs.
Senior Master Sergeant, Lee Deyerly spends his days as a flight engineer on the C-5 aircrafts, but soon he’ll be climbing into a new plane.
“The C-5’s like a 1968 model aircraft, and the C-17s are much newer than that, so with that it’d be the equivalent of driving an older car or an older RV and getting into a newer RV,” noted Deyerly.
And this new model doesn’t need as many workers. Deyerly’s position will go away after the switch to C-17s.
“I was bummed at first,” Deyerly said, “It takes two years of your life to become a first engineer on the C-5, and that is a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of time away from home learning a certain job.”
In some ways, Deyerly feels like he’s throwing away those two years of training.
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Senior Master Sergeant, Lee Deyerly
The 167th Airlift Wing first learned it was losing its C-5s in 2012. The Air Force had decided to retire many of the planes at bases across the country. This isn’t the first time the 167th has switched aircrafts. Prior to the C-5s, the base flew C-130s from 1972 until 2005. Sergeant Deyerly worked on the C-130s. He says it’s always bitter-sweet to see a plane go, but a recent experience helped him get excited about his new job as a loadmaster on the C-17s.
“I got to go to Stewart National Guard Base in New York and actually got to fly on the airplane with a couple other NCOs from the base here, and it was kind of invigorating,” Deyerly remembered, “It brought back a little bit more pride in what we’re about ready to go do. It brought back that excitement of flying again.”
In October, he’ll head to Oklahoma for four months of re-training. Many of Deyerly’s colleagues who worked fulltime on the C-5s are also being re-trained. Others are re-locating to bases that still have C-5s, or moving to new jobs on or off the Martinsburg base, or simply retiring. But about 40 more people could be without fulltime jobs when the last C-5 leaves the base in March.
Colonel Shaun Perkowski is the commander of the 167th Airlift Wing.
“We knew that the move to the C-17 would come with a difference in numbers,” Perkowski said, “we knew that the constriction of fulltime positions and part time positions would be a challenge for us.”
Base personnel seem unsure how many part time positions will be lost, but Colonel Perkowski hopes the West Virginia National Guard can help all the affected workers find other positions by the time the final C-5 leaves. He is glad the base is getting the newer C-17s.
“We’re very excited for the future,” noted Perkowski, “The C-17 is a vibrant, supported platform by the Air Force, funding and everything else, so we are excited from that standpoint.”
Senior Master Sergeant, Lee Deyerly and his crewmen will be taking one last flight in a C-5 today. They’ll be delivering it to an Air Force storage and maintenance facility commonly called “the boneyard” in Arizona, where it will be recycled.
“The entire section of engineers that are still here, we’re all going to get on it, and…on the C-5 and do our final flight together as a section,” Deyerly said, “So it’ll be a kind of a nice, a nice send off for the airplanes.”
Deyerly says that final flight will be reminiscent of his last flight on a C-130, but he’s happy to still have a fulltime job on the next aircraft. For about 40 of his colleagues, the future isn’t as clear.
