L.S. Starrett Company, Athol's biggest employer, "will reduce its work week for most of the 600 workers at its Athol factory and offices," according to today's Greenfield Recorder.
Ouch! While Starrett deserves credit for keeping everyone on board (although with less hours) instead of socking some of its workers with layoffs, the cutbacks are going to hurt.
The ups and downs of Starrett have been intertwined with the prosperity of Athol for more than a century. Starrett's web site says "it is not uncommon to see devoted generations of toolmakers with 30 or more years of experience" employed in its Athol MA facility. Those of us who have lived here a while know this is true.
Will the big stimulus bill coming out of Washington produce a rebound for companies like Starrett and towns like Athol? Probably not as much as all of us would like. The bill is bloated with wasteful spending, like 200 million dollars for grass replacement on the National Mall.
For so much money, we deserve better.
