It is with great displeasure that I received notice that “Donsco, Inc. Belleville Foundry is closing down this Friday and may never open again. It is one of three family owned business located in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, in the small town of Belleville. The other two plants are located in Wrightsville and Mount Joy Pa. and may suffer similar fates soon.
Now this is not news that will make national networks, nor will it upset millions of people in light of this putrid, decaying economy of ours, but knowing a large portion of the people who work there and are losing their jobs... their income... their security, I am saddened by the events scheduled to happen. I spent 37 years there, working for Sperry-Rand, Sperry New Holland, New Holland Americas, Ford New Holland, New Holland Fiat, Case New Holland and then Belleville Foundry and then finally ... Donsco, Inc. Belleville Foundry. Thirty seven years in one spot... working for one company as it made it’s way from owner to owner, doing the very best I could possibly do for every owner... My employer... a provider I remained loyal to and made tons of money for. I often wondered if they appreciated what I gave them daily, weekly, monthly or yearly... my lifetime... two heart attacks and missed less than a month’s work. I know they missed me when I left.... would have liked to have me back... but appreciated me? Owed me something??? They would say, perhaps a fond “goodbye” or a “Wish you well”, but anything else? I was once eloquently told that everything I ever did for the company was paid for with a wage. EVERYTHING? All the times I worked up to 18 hours straight to resolve issues... returned again within hours for more problems... or enduring the rigid cold of winter and working on a roof with sub zero winds blasting against me... or perhaps the sweltering summers of 100 plus degrees, when stuck in an enclosed area, laying on my back in blistering hot sand, welding machinery to get it producing again. Performing regularly like this, as those around me worked in clean offices with air conditioning, such as my own... which I was seldom ever in, or many of the other “paid” positions of comfort held by supervisors that were paid also. Was I rewarded for such personal discomfort, in an often dangerous environment, where I thrust myself into situations such as the times that multiple alarms were sounding, in an explosive situation, due to a failing six ton furnace full of 2800° iron, less than four inches from steaming water... 12,460 volts of electricity and me? Was I rewarded for my intentions of saving the equipment, repairing it and getting it back into production to make money for this employer? They say yes... it’s all in the pay. I still wonder......
In any event, I’m now retired and another friend (or fool), associate, former employee of mine is...or was performing like the circus bear, since December of 2005 when I retired... Well... he will have been, until this Friday when it all stops... and although it sounds like a miserable place to work, just like an old West Virginia coal mine... it’s a living... And one that beats the next best paying game in town.
In any event, my regards to all that labor there and the hope that all will work out for them and perhaps the place will survive to thrive again before everyone there perishes with our economy or is driven to the four corners of the earth seeking new jobs.
In any event, I’m now retired and another friend (or fool), associate, former employee of mine is...or was performing like the circus bear, since December of 2005 when I retired... Well... he will have been, until this Friday when it all stops... and although it sounds like a miserable place to work, just like an old West Virginia coal mine... it’s a living... And one that beats the next best paying game in town.
In any event, my regards to all that labor there and the hope that all will work out for them and perhaps the place will survive to thrive again before everyone there perishes with our economy or is driven to the four corners of the earth seeking new jobs.
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