Decker Coal recalls furloughed employees

Decker Coal mine has recalled all of the 98 mine workers furloughed May 8. 

Many of those workers live in Wyoming and commute to the mine just north of the Wyoming border. 

On May 8, Decker Coal furloughed 98 workers citing impacts from COVID-19. Decker coal told Sheridan Media all of those workers were recalled to their respective shift as of May 26.

Amid COVID-19 and a tough economic downturn for coal companies in Wyoming, layoffs from coal mines and other ancillary companies have greatly impacted residents in the Cowboy State. 

Navajo Transitional Energy Co. furloughed 93 hourly employees and eight salaried staff May 21, at the Antelope mine, according to the Associated Press.

The furloughs and layoffs were necessary despite temporary pay reductions and other attempts to preserve jobs, the Navajo Nation company said in a statement.

The NTEC cuts bring the number of coal jobs lost in the Powder River Basin this year to 526, or about 11% of the basin’s 4,800 coal workers. according to the AP.

Along with the coal mine layoffs, BNSF Railways will lose 122 jobs in the state as they close two facilities later this summer.

U.S. year-to-date coal production is 24.5% lower than the comparable year-to-date coal production in 2019, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.