Layoff at Stillwater Mining Co., Montana

As the nation heads deeper into recession, layoffs are seen more frequently. Layoffs at big companies such as Boeing and Circuit City are given good coverage in newspapers, but layoffs at smaller, local ones are not given much attention from national media. However, layoffs at local companies affect both the local economy and livelihood of common people, and deserve equal concerns as given to big companies.

As seen in the enclosed news clip, hundreds of people are laid off by Stillwater Mining Co., based in Montana. Most people affected are miners who don't have high education nor specialized skills. One of them is Dan Buckley who left a well-paying construction job in Washington and came home to live with his fiancée. Unfortunately, he was only four hours short of being off probation.

Some laid-off miners are worried about health insurance and retirement as Jess Larson is. Larson is also a union member of United Steelworkers Union Local 11-0001. The union will hold a talk with the company about the job cuts and restructuring plans. In the meantime, terminated workers have to find another job to make the ends meet at the cost of giving up seniority, multiple weeks of vacation and up to $4,000 in attendance bonus, as well as taking a pay cut. Still, there are jobs offers at a railroad project at the Signal Peak Energy coal mine and Nevada gold mines for miners terminated by Stillwater. State officials and University faculties also offer them help such as unemployment benefits and college courses.

The problems faced by terminated workers are compounded by seasonal unemployment in industries like residential and highway construction. As slow season for these industries are well under way, more people will come and use Montana Job Services for unemployment insurance, job searches and networking.

As the country enters deeper into recession and the economy meltdown continues, we will see more stories like these in our neighborhood. As the state, university, and local community help each other to relieve problems associated with layoffs, people out of jobs will find help getting through the bad economy.