Ok folks, I sure hope you're at least starting to pay here. Because coal producer Alpha Natural Resources announced Tuesday that it’s going to be cutting production by 16 million tons and eliminating 1,200 jobs companywide, with the immediate closing of eight mines in Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. According to Chief Executive Officer Kevin Crutchfield, the mine shutdowns start Tuesday, while the rest of the layoffs will be completed by the end of the first quarter. In all, the layoffs amount to nearly a tenth of Alpha’s 13,000-person work force.
Alpha said it is closing four mines in West Virginia, three in Virginia and one in Pennsylvania. They are a mix of deep and surface mines. All the mines being closed also just happen to be non-union operations. Alpha didn’t immediately name the mines because it was stated that they wanted to inform all the workers first. Though some miners will stay on to seal the operations, most will either be reassigned or laid off immediately. Support positions will also be cut proportionally as Alpha reduces its operating regions from four to two, Crutchfield said, and two executives will retire Nov. 1.
Crutchfield called it "a difficult day," but said the shutdowns and layoffs are a necessary part of business and needed to ensure Alpha survives in what has become a very difficult U.S. market, where coal companies face a dual challenge: a shift towards natural gas and "a regulatory environment that’s aggressively aimed at constraining the use of coal." The regulations of which Mr. Crutchfield speaks are not, in fact, aimed at constraining the use of coal, they are designed to eliminate the use of coal and thus the jobs of those who are needed to extract the coal from the ground.
As for that "regulatory environment," is made clear in the above video of Barry talking about his rather unique approach to the coal industry. Now keep in mind, many argued that his stance on coal would lead to just the sort of thing Alpha has now been forced to do. "We think the actions we’re taking are aimed at getting ahead of this on a proactive basis and getting set up for 2013 going forward," said M. Crutchfield. Alpha will cut production and reduce overhead as it shifts away from thermal coal used in domestic power generation to concentrate on metallurgical coal used in steelmaking overseas.
While mine closings and layoffs will be painful, Crutchfield said Alpha is trying to create "a long-term, sustainable footprint that can participate here in the U.S. in what is likely to be a smaller market than in the past." "The elimination of jobs on this scale is something I take very seriously," he said, "... unfortunately, we think we have to do it to set the company on the right foot going forward." Alpha will try to find openings for some of the laid off workers in other locations or in contractor positions, Crutchfield said, but that will take time.
Somehow I have this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that Barry may still manage to win at least West Virginia and Pennsylvania in this November's election. Which is something I just don't understand. How can anyone in their right mind vote for the guy responsible for not only them losing their job, but for their state losing a valuable source of revenue. And for such a bogus reason as the totally disproven theory of man-made global warming/climate change. Come on folks, we gotta wake up here! We have got to put a stop to the insanity being perpetrated by this guy!
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