Dos Republicas Coal Partnership’s Eagle Pass Mine Operator, Camino Real Fuels, Plans Mass Lay-off of 162 Employees Commencing July 9th
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2020
The devastating blow dealt to Dos Republicas Coal Partnership’s Mexican Parent and Subsidiary Companies’ on June 19, 2020 by the Mexican government-owned, Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE), regarding the cancellation of their coal-supply contract to the coal-generated electricity plants Lopez Portillo (Carbon I) and Carbon II in Rio Escondido, Coahuila, Mexico is causing the Eagle Pass Mine operator, Camino Real Fuels, L.L.C., to commence a mass layoff of 162 employees effective July 9, 2020, according to a letter written on June 25, 2020 by John C. Duffey, General Manager of Camino Real Fuels, L.L.C, a subsidiary of North American Coal, to Ms. Camea Dukes, State Rapid Response Coordinator at the Texas Workforce Commission in Austin, Texas.
The Eagle Pass Business Journal obtained a copy of the June 25, 2020 letter penned by John C. Duffey, General Manager, at the controversial Eagle Pass Mine, to Ms. Dukes at the Texas Workforce Commission.
Duffey states in his June 25 letter that “Pursuant to the Federal Workder Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act…, we are writing you to inform you that there will be a mass layoff at the Eagle Pass Mine facility located at 607 County Road 305, Eagle Pass, TX 78852 on July 9, 2020. This layoff is a result of the unexpected and unforeseeable cancellation of the coal supply agreements whereby coal from the Eagle Pass Mine is supplied to a power plant in Mexico. This mass layoff is expected to be permanent. The expected date of the first separation will be July 9, 2020.”
Duffey adds “All 162 affected employees have been notified of their separation dates and that their separation from employment will be permanent. These employees are expected to be separated from employment beginning July 9, 2020 with all separations accomplished by July 23, 2020.”
Duffey further states “We were unable to provide more notice of this action because these circumstances were not reasonably foreseeable until recently when the Comision Federal de Electricidad, the entity that purchases coal for use at the Carbon I and Carbon II plant, gave notice that it was terminating the coal supply agreements effective July 1, 2020. The cancellation of the supply agreements means there is no need for the Eagle Pass Mine any longer. We are providing as much notice as practicable under the circumstances and given the rapid pace at which this situation has developed. This mass layoff is expected to be permanent. The expected date of the first separation will be July 9, 2020.”
Duffey adds “There will not be any bumping rights for affected employees—that is, employees will not be able to displace more junior employees out of their job positions as a result of this mass layoff. There is no union representing affected employees.”
According to Duffey’s June 25 letter, “the cancellation of the supply agreements means there is no need for the Eagle Pass Mine any longer.”
Dos Republicas Coal Partnership is currently involved in an appeal of the renewal of its coal mining operating permit from the Railroad Commission of Texas in a state district court in Austin, Travis County, Texas against the City of Eagle Pass, Maverick County, Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association, the Paquache Clan of the Coahuiltecan Indian Tribe of Texas, local farmers, ranchers, citizens, and others with trial scheduled in late-July of 2020. It is unknown if Dos Republicas Coal Partnership will continue with its appeal or seek to dismiss the case or sell, convey, or transfer its permit to a third-party entity.
Without the Mexican CFE’s coal supply agreements, the controversial Eagle Pass Mine owned by Dos Republicas Coal Partnership has a bleak future of finding another customer for its low-quality bituminous coal in the world marketplace.
