Trona worker James Kincaid had a busy fall. He hired on with Sweetwater County’s Genesis Alkali, one of the largest producers of soda ash in the world.
“I started working on October 7. On October 30, we bought a house out here,” Kincaid recalled.
He moved his wife and daughter almost a 1,000 miles from Kansas to Green River, Wyoming.
“And November 5 is when they announced the layoffs,” he said.
Kincaid and 29 others were given the one-month notice. Some of them were like Kincaid: just hired this fall. They worked their last day Friday, Dec. 6.
“I moved out here for a career, not a job. You throw a football and find a job anywhere,” Kincaid said. “I feel duped about making that trip out here, and it leaves a bad taste, bad feeling in my gut.”
Soda ash is Wyoming’s largest export. It’s in things like baking soda and glass and comes from the mineral trona, which the industry relies on Sweetwater County miners to supply.
According to Sweetwater Now reporting, Genesis Alkali said the layoffs are because of a downturn in the soda ash market. With about 1,000 employees, the cuts account for three percent of their workforce.
Reports show that the average U.S. export price of soda ash from January to May this year was $230 per metric ton, which is about $70 less than the average last year. However, production was up in August compared to the same time in 2023 for both nationwide and Wyoming production. Meanwhile, consumption of U.S. soda ash was down this year compared to 2023.
Regardless, workers like Kincaid are questioning why they were hired so close to the layoffs.
“They made it seem like it happened overnight,” Kincaid said. “And it's not something that happens overnight, I promise you that.”
Genesis didn’t comment on the timing of the hirings or layoffs.
Kincaid went from making about $45 an hour to being unemployed. He said he and his family like Sweetwater County and they don’t want to move again. He’s put a few job applications in with other companies, including another soda ash company in the area called Tata Chemicals.
“With my skill set, I think I can find something [similar]. It may take me a minute or two, may take me a couple part time jobs to get there, but I'll get there,” Kincaid said.
A big motivator for him is that he still has two kids back in Kansas.
“The only thing that's going through my head space right now is to get back on my feet to where I can see my kids for Christmas,” he said.
It’s possible Genesis could hire the workers back if the soda ash market improves. But Kincaid said he’s not depending on that.
The local union represents about 700 Genesis Alkali workers. Marshal Cummings is the union president and a miner at the company. He spent the last month negotiating, trying to soften the blow by suggesting Genesis offer buyouts rather than lay workers off.
“I tried to convey to the company that you know, these are the people that you want to keep around. Your retention and recruitment is part of trying to be the best mine in the world,” Cummings said. “And if this is the reputation that you're building, it's going to be hard to get there.”
Cummings added that he’s still pushing to get guys like Kincaid hired back on. Genesis did not respond for comment on that possibility either.
