Western Sugar Company announced Friday it will lay off about 15 percent of its maintenance workers because of a slow sugar season.
More than 13 employees in Greeley, CO, got pink slips along with 11 in Bayard, NE, and about 15 percent of the maintenance workers at factories in Billings, MT, Fort Morgan, CO, Lovell, WY, and Scottsbluff, NE.
Based on figures from Greeley and Bayard, total layoffs would probably total close to 70. While layoffs during a sugarbeet-processing season are not unusual, coming at this point in the campaign is.
Most sugar factory workers are seasonal and their jobs end at the finish of harvest.
Company officials were not immediately available for comment.