Coal mine job fair draws hundreds
August 17th, 2008 | by mantrionline |Hundreds of jobseekers turned out Wednesday, hoping to be among the 600 people who eventually will work at a new underground coal mine in Union County.
They showed up early, eventually forming a long line that snaked down a hallway, around a lobby and finally outside the Sullivan Tech Center at Henderson Community College.
Shortly after 4 p.m., the 600th job applicant had checked in, with more in line.
As people got off work late Thursday afternoon, more were coming in. It appeared that the final number would hit close to 800, according to Tiffany Browning, a business and industry liaison at HCC who helped organize the job fair.
“I’m very pleased,” a grinning Heath Lovell, general manager of the River View Mine near Uniontown that is under construction by Alliance Resource Partners, said.
River View expects to hire the first 20 to 25 people in October, start their 40-hour safety training on Oct. 27 and have them working at the mine Nov. 3.
More will be hired each month for the next couple of years, reaching 600 by late 2010.
Those who turned out Thursday were a mixed lot: Twenty-something men and middle-agers. Some in shorts, some in work uniforms, at least one with a tie. Experienced miners and those who had never been inside a mine. And a few women.
Applicants from Henderson, Union and Webster counties made up the majority. But there were also people from Daviess, McLean, Crittenden, Hopkins and Ohio counties as well as from Southern Indiana and Southern Illinois.
Many were employees at Rayloc, the Morganfield auto parts plant that is ceasing manufacturing operations in October and laying off 421 people plus some temporary workers.
Among them were Benny Griggs of Sturgis, Ky., an assistant supervisor who, if he makes it to the last planned day of manufacturing operations, will have been at Rayloc for 23 years.
“I never even considered being a coal miner,” Griggs said. “But I’m here to take a look and see what they’ve got.”
His co-worker, Steve Woolsey of Uniontown, has been at Rayloc for 30 years.
He also hadn’t planned to ever work at a mine. But with Rayloc preparing to lay off most of its workers, “You’ve got to do what you have to do to keep your family fed,” Woolsey said.
Whatever their reason, the applicants turned out in such numbers that at one point, it took them 20 minutes to find a parking space on HCC’s campus, Browning said.
“I got here at 7:30 (a.m.), and there were two already here,” she said.
