Tag Archives: coal

“significant downturn in business”: U.S. Mining/Industrial/Logistics layoffs, May 2017

Incomplete list of U.S. Mining/Industrial/Logistics job loss/shutdown announcements made in May 2017.

Arkansas: France based Dassault eliminating 6% of its Little Rock Falcon Jet factory workers due to “…worldwide economic and political uncertainty combined with a prolonged imbalance between supply and demand for new aircraft as well as a large inventory of pre-owned aircraft competing with new sales.” 

 California: Angelica Textile Services issued a shutdown WARN for its Gilroy factory, 160 jobs gone by July!  Benz Propane issued a layoff WARN, 101 employees in Tehachapi to become unemployed by August!  Oil company Breitburn Energy Partners now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, blaming ‘low’ oil prices for not be able to pay its debts.  Despite record online sales in 2016, plush sports doll maker Bleacher Creatures now chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to a major customer (Sports Authority) ceasing to exist and problems with licensing.  Boeing issued layoff WARNs for 38 more employees. In Pittsburg, joint U.S.-Korean steel company USS-POSCO Industries issued a mass layoff WARN, 635 jobs gone in July!

Colorado: Mesa Oil-Mesa Environmental now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, for the second time.  This time debts include $3-million USD in back-due federal taxes.

Florida:  In Miami, transportation company Transdev Services eliminating 102 jobs by the end of June!

Georgia: Cleaning chemical maker ZEP shutting down two factories in Fulton, 158 jobs gone!  International Fragrance-Agilex Fragrance halting ops in Cherokee, 32 jobs lost. 

Idaho: In Boise, after seven years non-profit glass recycler Usful Glassworks shutdown due to lack of funding/donations.

Illinois:  Nippon Sharyo laid off 110 Rochelle rail car employees due to “technical complications and delays”!  The Japan based company has been laying off employees since 2015. GE (General Electric) shutting down its Lamp Plant in Mattoon, 135 jobs lost between July 2017 and March 2018!  API Logistics shutting down its warehouse ops in Hodgkins, 114 jobs lost due to loss of contract!  Without warning Fisher & Ludlow-Nucor Grating shutdown its architectural metal works operations in Litchfield, 60 jobs gone with no official reason given.

Indiana: Continental Structural Plastics issued a WARN, 164 jobs gone by the end of July due to a major industrial customer shutting down for three months!  Packaging maker Printpack eliminating 45 jobs in Bloomington after losing a major customer.  Despite earlier threats by Donald Trump, HVAC company Carrier suddenly began eliminating 3-hundred jobs!  Carrier also warned that more layoffs will take place later in the year as work is shifted to Mexico!

Iowa: What automotive industry recovery?  Caterpillar issued a shutdown WARN for its factory in Elkader, 59 jobs gone starting in July.

Louisiana: Oil service company Tidewater now chapter 11 bankrupt busted mainly due to sale-leaseback disputes.

Maryland: Kaydon Ring & Seal issued a WARN, 217 jobs gone starting in July due to production being consolidated to other locations!

Massachusetts: One of the largest distribution companies in the U.S., Veritiv, shutting down its warehouse in Wilmington, 170 jobs lost to consolidation operations!

Michigan:  What automotive industry recovery?  Ford announced it will eliminate 1-thousand-4-hundred salaried jobs through attrition, bribery (buyouts) and outright layoffs as part of Ford’s plan to eliminate 10% of its salaried jobs in North America and Asia!  Spain based auto parts maker Gestamp laying off 84 people in Lapeer, due to the loss of a client.  General Motors (GM) eliminating more than 6-hundred jobs as it ends production of the GMC Acadia.

Missouri: Cleaning and storage company Katy Industries now bankrupt busted and for sale.  Rubber/plastic products maker Cosmoflex shutdown its Hannibal ops, 45 jobs lost to consolidation.

New Jersey:  What construction industry recovery?  Flooring maker Mannington laid off 80 people due to the sale of one of its product lines to a competitor.

North Carolina: Alamac American Knits shutting down in Lumberton, 154 remaining jobs gone over the next two months!  Administrators stated that before NAFTA went into effect they “…employed 1,000.”  What automotive industry recovery?  Caterpillar shutting down its Morganton factory, 85 jobs gone starting in July.  Celadon Trucking Services shutting down its Nash County operations, 127 jobs lost!

Ohio: Cincinnati based ‘household’ products maker Proctor & Gamble shutting down a factory in Canada, supposedly as part of a plan to bring jobs back to the United States.  What automotive industry recovery? Maker of car batteries (including for those stupid electric cars) Robert Bosch Battery Systems laid off 88 people due to a “significant downturn in business”.   Ford laid off 130 pick-up truck assemblers at a factory near Cleveland, apparently because of slow truck sales!  Hyundai Ideal Electric Company issued a shutdown WARN, eliminating the remaining jobs in July.  At one time the Korea based company employed more than 1-hundred people in Mansfield. Maker of parts for the computer and aerospace industries, McSwain Manufacturing suddenly laid off 30 people and will lay off another 30 “…due to a dramatic and sudden reduction in purchase orders…”

Oregon: Transportation company Specialty Mobility Services issued a shutdown WARN, 101 jobs lost due to loss of contract!

Pennsylvania:  Germany based logistics company DB Schenker eliminating 66 jobs by the end of July. Mark Line Industries suddenly shutdown, 44 jobs lost in Ephrata.  Hubbell Lighting shutting down its L-E-D factory in Bristol Borough, 114 jobs lost!  In Cannonsburg, Nobel Energy shutting down, 99 jobs lost between July and September.

Tennessee: Norfolk Southern Railways laid off 41 people as part of a plan to cut operations at its Debutt’s Yard by 50%.  HVAC parts maker Robertshaw laid off 134 people and shutdown a factory on Cummings Highway, as a result of taking over a competitor!

Texas: Oil company GulfMark Offshore now chapter 11 bankrupt busted with $430-million USD of debt.  Oil industry parts supplier AFGlobal chapter 11 bankrupt busted.

Virginia: White Birch Paper Company shutting down its mill in Hanover County, 165 jobs lost as production shifting to Canada!

Washington: Boeing issued mass layoff WARNs, 917 jobs gone between the end of June and the end of July!  Spectrum Glass shutting down its Woodinville factory at the end of June.

Wisconsin:  What automotive industry recovery?  Maker of exhaust pipes-mufflers Stroughton based Nelson Global Products announced it will shutdown factories in Tennessee and Minnesota, about 3-hundred jobs lost by the end of the year, due to global competition!

Mining/Industrial/Logistics layoffs, April 2017: “DUE TO A LARGE LOSS OF BUSINESS….”

JOBLESS PEOPLE NOT COUNTED IN THE ‘REAL’ NEWS UNEMPLOYMENT REPORT SKYROCKETS BY MORE THAN HALF-A-MILLION IN MAY!

Government Incompetence: More than 80% of Japan’s nuclear reactors to be shut down, get ready for petroleum & coal prices to spike

Combine natural disasters, corporate and government incompetence, and regular inspections, and you end up with more than 80% of Japan’s nuclear power turned off.  That’s disastrous when you realize that Japan’s industries rely on nuclear power!  Can you say poor planning?

On November 25, another nuke plant will be shut down for regular inspection.  But that’s not all.  The remaining operating nuclear power plants will also be shut down going into spring 2012, because of the timing of scheduled inspections.  That means all 54 Japanese nuke plants will be off line!

This means there will be a huge demand coming from Japan for petroleum (oil, gasoline, diesel), natural gas and coal to run traditional electrical generators.  Now imagine what will happen to the price such commodities when an entire country suddenly starts sucking up millions of barrels of fuel per day!

Another fatal U.S. mine cave in

After a fatal silver mine collapse, in Mullen, Idaho, a Washingtonville, Ohio, man was killed April 25 in a coal mine accident.

Officials with the East Fairfield Coal Company says the cave in was a freak accident.  They claim it was the first fatal accident in the mine’s 80 years of operation.  State and Federal authorities are investigating.