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Old 11-18-2008, 09:23 AM
 
Location: Livingston, Montana
638 posts, read 1,918,603 times
Reputation: 466

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BillingsGazette.com :: Stillwater idles East Boulder mine (http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/11/18/news/state/18-minelayoffs.txt - broken link)


Stillwater idles East Boulder mine Platinum, palladium prices plummet, blamed for layoff

By JAN FALSTAD
Of The Gazette Staff

Stillwater Mining Co. suspended operations at its East Boulder mine Monday and sent layoff notices to 526 employees.

Some of those East Boulder workers will be transferred to the Nye mine, though the number was not provided.

The company is permanently cutting its total work force by about 320 workers and 50 contractors. That's 21 percent of its 1,770-person work force.

The company has been one of the region's largest and best-paying employers and blamed the move on a 60 percent drop this year in market prices for platinum and palladium.
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Old 11-18-2008, 09:42 AM
 
1,305 posts, read 2,755,889 times
Reputation: 238
Ouch! 526 laysoff will hurt in a state where jobs have historically come at a premium.
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Old 11-18-2008, 07:37 PM
 
Location: SW Montana
355 posts, read 1,146,853 times
Reputation: 254
Boy, boom and bust. Montana is starting to assume shades of days past.

This will slap Big Timber and Billings right upside the head. What a shame for all those folks who have put down stakes here. Not like there's a bunch of work waiting anywhere, especially at decent wages.
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Old 11-19-2008, 05:35 PM
 
Location: Livingston, Montana
638 posts, read 1,918,603 times
Reputation: 466
Well we were one of those hit just 3 hours ago.

Hubby came home after lunch PFL in Livingston laid off 15 employees to start

When he got back from lunch he was wondering why there were cabs lined out outside. Mgt called the cabs for the people they were laying off and who commute w/someone else from Bozeman.

Thankfully he got severence and I'm still employed (I'm med transcript so I very secure in my job (at least in this town)

but our first claim to unemployment... we never thought it would be us
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Old 11-19-2008, 09:18 PM
 
Location: across the street
33 posts, read 97,444 times
Reputation: 23
What caused the market price drop for platinum and palladium? What were these products used for?
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Old 11-19-2008, 09:30 PM
 
Location: NW MT
1,436 posts, read 3,302,945 times
Reputation: 551
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewLtDad View Post
What caused the market price drop for platinum and palladium? What were these products used for?
Most likely demand and Catalytic converters mostly... Discovery/Science channel (or the likes) did a show on it a bit ago. Pretty interesting.
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Old 11-20-2008, 06:16 AM
 
Location: LEAVING CD
22,974 posts, read 27,016,029 times
Reputation: 15645
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovinCarl View Post
Well we were one of those hit just 3 hours ago.

Hubby came home after lunch PFL in Livingston laid off 15 employees to start

When he got back from lunch he was wondering why there were cabs lined out outside. Mgt called the cabs for the people they were laying off and who commute w/someone else from Bozeman.

Thankfully he got severence and I'm still employed (I'm med transcript so I very secure in my job (at least in this town)

but our first claim to unemployment... we never thought it would be us
I'm sorry to hear that, I certainly hope times get better for y'all but I'm guessing it's Montana's turn to feel the pinch for a while...
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Old 11-20-2008, 07:13 AM
 
Location: Livingston, Montana
638 posts, read 1,918,603 times
Reputation: 466
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimj View Post
I'm sorry to hear that, I certainly hope times get better for y'all but I'm guessing it's Montana's turn to feel the pinch for a while...
Yeah but unfortunately Montana doesn't have a wide selection of jobs.. especially IT which is his field and the jobs they do have soooo many people (overqualified) are applying for them

Right now we're keeping it in God's hands. He's covered out butt many times before so we'll see.

We always wanted to live in Alaska so maybe this is the time to look there. We even are checking out Yellowknife in Canada. We like being away from major populations (though Yellowknife is up to 18000 people which is 3 times the size of Livingston) but still nothing else up there which we like and they have job openings in his field... so we'll see.

w/me working, his unemployment, my child support and his mother (who lives w/us) helping w/ her SS and our savings we'll be okay for a few months.
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Old 11-20-2008, 09:22 PM
 
Location: Montana
1,219 posts, read 3,170,059 times
Reputation: 687
Stillwater is not going under. They are feeling the cash crunch for sure, but I can definitely say that they are doing all they can to keep everyone they can. It's easy to think that because of the price of platinum there should be no worries, however it's a big business and with that comes the cash flow problems, bureaucratic BS and all the other. We ALL have to deal with the mistakes of big busininess. It's hard for a guy like me to put in type, but there are good people out there that actually care about their employees, and yes, there might be a need for some cutbacks, but at the same time there is a need for good, honest hardworking people. The mines know this, and at the local level it's more a matter of cutting the fat than it is closing down.
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Old 11-21-2008, 05:00 AM
 
Location: Montana
1,219 posts, read 3,170,059 times
Reputation: 687
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovinCarl View Post
Well we were one of those hit just 3 hours ago.

Hubby came home after lunch PFL in Livingston laid off 15 employees to start

When he got back from lunch he was wondering why there were cabs lined out outside. Mgt called the cabs for the people they were laying off and who commute w/someone else from Bozeman.

Thankfully he got severence and I'm still employed (I'm med transcript so I very secure in my job (at least in this town)

but our first claim to unemployment... we never thought it would be us
Sorry to hear that... some of our friends work out there also, but made it through for now. Seems like they are trimming down, but when this economic mess starts to look up I betcha they start bringing people back.
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