One of our five steelmaking coal operations in the Elk Valley region of British Columbia, Coal Mountain (CMO), will reach the end of mine life in early 2018. After developing a detailed plan for reclamation, one of the biggest challenges in closure planning is the transition of workers. With more than 300 valued employees working at CMO, some for 30+ years, our goal was to find employment opportunities for them at other Teck sites within the area.
“We did not want to say goodbye to the employees who had given Teck so many years of excellent service, and who had put down roots in this community with their families,” said Jared Whidden, Superintendent Human Resources, Line Creek Operations.
With careful consideration and internal engagement with human resources, business development and senior leadership, we developed a plan to transition employees from CMO to other sites in the Elk Valley. Keeping employees in the Elk Valley helps Teck to retain decades of experience, and helps employees and their families to stay settled in local communities.
We started by analyzing the needs of the other sites in the Elk Valley, assessing their hiring requirements that arose through normal attrition. From haul truck drivers to maintenance workers, we looked to find a new role for employees at CMO. During this time, Teck worked with local unions to ensure a smooth transition across sites starting in 2017, with additional employees to be transferred in spring 2018. A core team will remain at Coal Mountain while this work is undertaken.
“Many of our employees were born and raised in the Elk Valley, and uprooting their lives and families was the last thing they wanted to do,” stated Jared. “We see this result as a huge win for our closure planning and human resources teams.”
