Furloughs for 350 employees at Pueblo Chemical Depot

About 350 federal employees at the Pueblo Chemical Depot will have to take a 20 percent pay cut.

Starting July 8, employees will be required to take one day of unpaid furlough every week until the end of September. It’s a result of mandatory federal budget cuts from the Department of Defense.

“We’re gonna go one day a week and that way we stay on mission and we’re still gonna meet our mission. It doesn’t jeopardize our safety and security of our facility,” said Ken Roque, deputy public affairs officer at the depot.

The furlough will not affect the hundreds of people who are currently being hired to destroy chemical weapons at the depot because they’re being hired by private contractors.