According to the York (PA) Daily Record newspaper the IAM and AW unionized workers at Harley's York Facility in PA have authorized a strike after rejecting a new contract offer from Harley. The article reports the current contract expires at 12:01am on 2/2, at which time a strike could begin if a new contract is not approved.
The major sticking point is reported to be Harley's proposal to increase wages for the union members at an annual rate of 4% through 2009, the contract includes a stipulation that 2% of the 4% increase is contingent on certain health care costs being contained.
The York factory is Harley's major assembly facility for touring and custom bikes.
Here we go again. I guess it was only a matter of time before Harley got around to screwing their employees like everyone else is doing! Hey! Maybe they can move production to Taiwan! s@*t, half of their accessories are made there anyway!
It's official, the union struck Harley's York, PA plant at midnight Feb 2.
I heard Harley shut down the production lines a day or so earlier and then set up concrete blockades in front of the building and parking lots.
Hope this doesn't get any worse or last long as everyone gets hurt.
Made in Taiwan R.O.C. Has quite a ring to it doesn't it? I worked in manufacturing for over 20 years just to have the rug pulled out from under me "TWICE" as a matter of fact! Hell, eventually we'll all be working at "WALMART". I feel that the employees are in a unique situation. Harley just can't send their production overseas because it is an American icon {for the most part}. That would be a sure way of doing to themselves what the japanese couldn't do and that is to put Harley out of business!
I sure hope they settle this soon. I'm not sure what the workers are asking for but H-D finances and profits are at an all time high. They couldn't accomplish that without a quality workforce. I toured the factory last year and it was an impressive sight to see.
According to an article in today's paper the strike will cost the company about 1 cent per share per day on strike. That's a lot when you figure HD generated 97 cents per share in the fourth quarter 2007.
The so called experts believe the strike will effect only the first quarter 2007 but will not have long term implications to the stock value. We'll see.
"In a statement released on Thursday, Fred Gates, general manager of Harley's operations in York, said the concessions were necessary now, despite the motorcycle maker's currently strong performance, because "we don't want to find ourselves in 10 years in the same position that the Detroit auto industry is in now."
This is the same story all over the country.
Companies are in business for a profit. The MoCo has stockholders that expect a decent return. No stockholders, no company. They also have to have money for reinvesting into the company and keep operating.
I'm all for unions, they did a lot of good. The fact that we have a 40 hour work week, lunch breaks, compensation, safety laws and equipment, vacation, OT pay rates, or can even have a union is because some guys 80-odd years ago got their skulls busted by paid thugs trying to break any union.
There's got to be compromise, but some people are so stuck in old modes of thinking and what they believe they deserve. It isn't that any workers doesn't deserve a good job with decent pay, but it's not 1945 America anymore where you can walk into almost any factory and get a decent job for good pay and benefits out the wazoo. Companies can't keep footing 100% of insurance and offering certain perks, not when insurance rates are increasing by double-digits every year and costs in general keep raising.
I'm not saying that either side should cave, but some reality has to creep in somewhere on both sides.
I've always said that unions are a necessary evil,they have their good points and bad points. I can remember talking to others who worked in non union shops and they said that their pay and benefits were as good as most union shops and then i said to them, why do you think that is? It's because management doesn't want a union in their place of business, that's why you're getting paid what you are! If unions didn't exist you'd probably be getting paid minimum wages. I agree with the fact that the cost of medical insurance is getting way out of hand and something has to be done about it! A pretty good chunk of my pay goes towards it! Now i know that i'll probably get blasted for saying this but Hillary Clinton would probably do something about it. Remember when her husband was in office? She was the one who did most of the work on the medical program that they were trying to get passed but it got shot down! Politics suck!
Just remember when you have a boat load of money they say, how much? no problem! When you're poor it's where do i go to get someone else to pay for it? When you're somewhere in the middle it's up yours and f..k you!
You know, we've all heard about company execs getting these super ridiculous bonuses- just curious if hd is one of them. Mr. Kanter, I wouldn't worry yet. With t-shirts priced at 40 to 65 bucks a pop, I think hd will survive just fine. that's not even counting the valid warranty claims (like my three)they don't pay for. You guys don't really think they are all american, do you? For those of you who wrench, how many times do you reach for a 10mm.? Look closely on your scoot for the names tekon-showa or keihen. Them aint hill billys like me, nor american like us. What you fear is already here...
Union Strike At Harley's York Plant? 
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