MONONGALIA COUNTY, W.Va. — At the start of 2016, more than 500 employees are being laid off at Murray Energy mine sites in northern West Virginia.
Murray Energy officials would not confirm the total number of coal miner layoffs, but information from the United Mine Workers of America indicated the layoffs would break down as follows:
– 112 workers at the Ohio County Mine, the former Shoemaker Mine, where approximately 170 miners were laid off earlier this year
– 125 workers at the Marshall County Mine, the former McElroy Mine, where approximately 260 miners were laid off previously in 2015
– 107 workers at the Harrison County Mine, the former Robinson Run Mine.
– 82 workers at the Marion County Mine, the former Loveridge Mine
– 106 workers at the Monongalia County Mine, the former Blacksville Mine, where approximately 128 miners were laid off earlier this year.
In Ohio, 54 people are being laid off at the Ohio Valley Coal Corporation Mine at Powhatan Point, Ohio, the former Powhatan #6 Mine. A previous round of layoffs in May reduced the workforce there by 155.
These numbers do not include possible layoffs of nonunion workers.
“It’s just a bad day. It’s a bad day for the industry and it’s a bad for all of us who work in this industry,” said Delegate Mike Caputo (D-Marion, 50), vice president of the United Mine Workers of America, District 31.
“It’s sad that on the final days of 2015, we get one last, cruel blow to coal mining families.”
Murray Energy officials have blamed the layoffs on the current state of the coal market.
“The coal marketplace has been destroyed by President Barack Obama and his supporters, including the Sierra Club, the increased utilization of natural gas to generate electricity, and the extremely excessive coal severance tax in the state of West Virginia,” Gary Broadbent, Murray spokesperson, said in a statement.
According to company information, 7,500 people work for Murray Energy at mines sites Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Utah and West Virginia.
Heading into 2016, “I don’t know what the future is going to be,” Caputo said of the coal industry on Thursday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”