![]() ![]() “It felt right to our family at the time,” Loya said.Ĭraig sits in the heart of Colorado’s western front, only 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the popular Steamboat Springs ski area.Ĭows and lambs graze on farmlands. In the meantime, he’ll stay with a sister in Pueblo and hope for the best. He’s holding out hope a job opens at the Craig plant due to job movement within the plant. When he’s not working as a sub-station technician there, he plans on making the five-hour drive to come home and see his family. On Monday, the youngest Loya, started an apprenticeship position at another Tri-State owned facility across the state in Pueblo - some 300 miles (483 kilometers) away from Craig where he lives with his wife and two children, ages 7 and 3. Now, some workers will retire, while others, like the younger Loyas, must find a new way to support their families, and possibly leave Craig behind. “People hire on there when they’re young anticipating that they are going to work at that power plant there their entire workable lifespan.” “A power plant job, especially in a rural community like Craig - those are what I call cradle to grave jobs,” said Richard Meisinger, business manager of the 111 chapter of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union which represents the bargaining unit at the Craig plant and nearly 4,200 members across Colorado and Wyoming. That will mean a tough transition for the Loyas and other workers who’ve made a life in Craig, a rural town with a population 9,000 that draws elk hunters from around the world to its scenic surroundings. which partially owns and operates the Craig Station. The coal plant is closing, along with the mine that feeds it and has nearly 115 more employees, and all the workers will lose their jobs over the next decade, according to Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc. ![]() The plant currently employs 180 people, paying higher salaries and bringing far more job security than most other jobs in the area. He, his son and grandson - all named Trinidad Loya -worked for the coal plant in Craig, Colorado, with the eldest Loya starting more than 30 years ago. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close MenuĬRAIG - In a quiet valley tucked away from Colorado’s bustling ski resorts, far from his hometown in northern Mexico, Trinidad Loya found a way to support his family’s American dream: Coal.
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