Book profiles Stanley Works layoffs

Louis Uchitelle is a New York Times reporter and he has written an excellent book about the consequences of layoffs, The Disposable American, that begins by profiling The Stanley Works.

The decline of the Stanley Works in New Britain is the focus of the book's first chapter. A major part of the first chapter is available on the Washington Post web site. You may have to register to read it.

When I started working at The Herald in 1981, manufacturing jobs were rapidly disappearing. Stanley became the last of the old time hardware companies to continue in this city. What Uchitelle documents is the gradual dismantling of Stanley’s manufacturing workforce.

Uchitelle interviewed people in New Britain, former Stanley Works officials as well as employees of this company. It's an eye-opening book for what it says about New Britain and the broader downsizing trend.