Two companies recently announced mass layoffs at mines in the Powder River Basin.
In a news release today, Peabody Energy announced they are cutting 235 hourly and salaried employees from the North Antelope Rochelle Mine in the Powder River Basin.
Similarly, Arch Coal said they are cutting around 230 people at the Black Thunder Mine near Wright, as reported by the Casper Start Tribune.
“While our asset position and contracting strategies give us relative strength, we are taking these actions to match production with customer demand,” said Peabody President – Americas Kemal Williamson. “We regret the impact of these actions on our employees, their families, and the surrounding communities in the Campbell and Converse county areas.”
Peabody said in their release that they are taking steps to ease the transition through severance and outplacement support.
Both companies say the cuts impact about 15 percent of the workers at those mines.