Harley Davidson Workers on Strike
Guess I'll have to wait for my new one, don't want one built while their pissed.
Feb. 2, 2007, 1:48AM
Union strikes at Harley-Davidson plant in Pennsylvania; factory halts motorcycle production
Associated Press
YORK, Pa. - Union workers began a strike against Harley-Davidson Inc. at midnight today, picketing at the company's largest manufacturing plant.
More than 50 workers gathered at the main gate of the company's York facilities as the strike began, said Tom Boger, a union representative for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 175.
Boger said the company installed cement barricades to block access to all gates, even empty parking lots.
The strike comes two days after unionized workers rejected the company's contract offer and authorized a walkout.
In anticipation of the strike, the company shut down production at the plant on Thursday.
"We are obviously disappointed by the union's decision," Fred Gates, general manager of Harley-Davidson's York operations, said in a statement Thursday. "The proposed contract was structured to help manage future costs that could be detrimental to our business over the long term."
The statement also announced the suspension of production of the company's Touring and Softail motorcycles.
The company said its proposal included annual wage increases of 4 percent over three years. But part of the increase depended on the union agreeing to contribute toward health insurance coverage; unionized employees currently pay no premium. It also would have doubled the company's 401(k) retirement plan contributions and created a two-tier wage system under which new hires would be paid less than current ones.
Boger said the union was prepared to return to negotiations.
"We'll wait for the company to call us," he said.
The facility employs more than 3,200 union and nonunion workers.
Feb. 2, 2007, 1:48AM
Union strikes at Harley-Davidson plant in Pennsylvania; factory halts motorcycle production
Associated Press
YORK, Pa. - Union workers began a strike against Harley-Davidson Inc. at midnight today, picketing at the company's largest manufacturing plant.
More than 50 workers gathered at the main gate of the company's York facilities as the strike began, said Tom Boger, a union representative for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 175.
Boger said the company installed cement barricades to block access to all gates, even empty parking lots.
The strike comes two days after unionized workers rejected the company's contract offer and authorized a walkout.
In anticipation of the strike, the company shut down production at the plant on Thursday.
"We are obviously disappointed by the union's decision," Fred Gates, general manager of Harley-Davidson's York operations, said in a statement Thursday. "The proposed contract was structured to help manage future costs that could be detrimental to our business over the long term."
The statement also announced the suspension of production of the company's Touring and Softail motorcycles.
The company said its proposal included annual wage increases of 4 percent over three years. But part of the increase depended on the union agreeing to contribute toward health insurance coverage; unionized employees currently pay no premium. It also would have doubled the company's 401(k) retirement plan contributions and created a two-tier wage system under which new hires would be paid less than current ones.
Boger said the union was prepared to return to negotiations.
"We'll wait for the company to call us," he said.
The facility employs more than 3,200 union and nonunion workers.
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They only make certain models there. I think the dressers.
What were you planning on buying?0 -
Been looking at the Street Glide, Deuce and Night Train. Fixing to put a custom springer front end on the sportster, hopefully by summer I can make my mind up for the next one. 0 -
I like my Street Bob. I think if I buy another bike, it'll be a Road King Custom unless its a full up dresser. 0 -
Dang, four posts already and nobody has bashed Unions yet. You guys are slipping! [:D] 0 -
I'm not in a union, dont really know that there are many left in Texas, therefore I dont think I can make an educated response to them.[:D]
If enough people go hungry , eventually they will find another job or go back to work. Texas is a right to work state, either you work or you go hungry and Harleyless. [:D]0 -
Health care costs are killing these big companies. That's what is driving Ford out of business. It's not the wages, or retirement, it's the health care insurance costs. People are living much longer and they are doing it through the use of expensive drugs.
I'm sorry it came to a strike but we will see more and more of this in the future. The companies will be looking for some help in health care expenses by reducing benefits or getting some contributions from employees. My own insurance plan at work has increased deductibles the past two years so that I am paying much more than before.
At some point many people will have to decide if the they can afford to stay alive.0 -
News last night had an interesting fact. People are not saving money. It happened in 2005 and 2006. Interesting fact is it has only happened in 1932 also. 0 -
Here the unions go again.
I would like to know what the wages are. I bet a North Carolina carpenter would do back flips to get that high Yankee union pay.
They must have forgotten the bad old AMF days, when the company nearly went away for good.
I wonder if the unions will be stupid enough to destroy this company, like they did Eastern Airlines.0 -
Harley owner here but I side with the guys getting squeezed.
The Union has a legitimate beef with the contract . It sounds like a negative raise (loss).
If the damn companies were smart ( they have shown themselves to be lacking in indepemdent thinking) they would set up their own health care system , with their own contracts for serious work (surgeries, etc.) and eliminate the middle man whose administrative costs are almost 40% .
This figure was recently released to the public (last week?).
DO I NEED TO SOLVE EVERYONE'S PROBLEMS??? IT'S GETTING BURDENSOME!!
Stan0 -
A couple of things come to mind:
First; Unions are STUPID. Times change, changing with the times, sharing in risk is smart, 40 year old union tactics get the plant closed and moved to a non-union state.
Second; HD is reaching market saturation, there is no way in hell they can comtinue the pattern of sales over the long term. A motorcycle is simply not worth three to four times the cost of a sedan.0 -
quote:Originally posted by stankemp
Harley owner here but I side with the guys getting squeezed.
The Union has a legitimate beef with the contract . It sounds like a negative raise (loss).
If the damn companies were smart ( they have shown themselves to be lacking in indepemdent thinking) they would set up their own health care system , with their own contracts for serious work (surgeries, etc.) and eliminate the middle man whose administrative costs are almost 40% .
This figure was recently released to the public (last week?).
DO I NEED TO SOLVE EVERYONE'S PROBLEMS??? IT'S GETTING BURDENSOME!!
Stan
It is obvious that you never worked in or around the health care industry. That plan is a great way to go bankrupt in oh, about 36 months.0 -
quote:Originally posted by bpost1958
A motorcycle is simply not worth three to four times the cost of a sedan.
It is worth what the buying public will pay. Since you admit they are at market saturation there must by LOTS of the buying public who who have set the price by paying what they thought was fair.
Where can you buy a new sedan for 3 to 4 times less than a new bike?0 -
BP:
I don't think so.
Take the considerable outlay from the co. on health care.
Use a contract negotiating team for the setup health care centers to regulate price.
Do you think that would cost more than dumping 40% (continually) of your health care costs down the toilet?? Take an audit of the companies , I'm talking the Fords already mentioned, that are self -insured in other ways.
I believe it's the next step. Just because it isn't normally done at this time dosen't mean it would not work better. And the cost of health care would be better reflected in the company performance.
Stan
PS ,To BP: having recently been the recipient of 2 new knees, I know what the negotiated cost is compared to the actual payout. Try 20K vs 100K.
I looked at the bills.
PPS , To the union busters: if you worked for a company for a while ( a very solvent company like HD) and they said "you're gonna get 10% less next year" , wouldn't you be unhappy?
PPPS , I ran my own company for the last 20 years. I know a bit about business.0 -
Would you still buy a Harley, if it had a tag that said,
Made in Mexico?0 -
quote:Originally posted by bpost1958
quote:Originally posted by stankemp
Harley owner here but I side with the guys getting squeezed.
The Union has a legitimate beef with the contract . It sounds like a negative raise (loss).
If the damn companies were smart ( they have shown themselves to be lacking in indepemdent thinking) they would set up their own health care system , with their own contracts for serious work (surgeries, etc.) and eliminate the middle man whose administrative costs are almost 40% .
This figure was recently released to the public (last week?).
DO I NEED TO SOLVE EVERYONE'S PROBLEMS??? IT'S GETTING BURDENSOME!!
Stan
It is obvious that you never worked in or around the health care industry. That plan is a great way to go bankrupt in oh, about 36 months.
Never worked in the health care industry. My company is self insured-exactly as stan is talking. We pay-a ton less than alot with a damn good plan. One of my guys just took 3 weeks off for his wife to have heart surgery. He paid about $1500 out of pocket and didn't lose a single day's pay. We scheduled him for extra days to cover the 1500. It is paid out of a disablility account we provide. All self insured.
Did I mention we are organized?0 -
quote:Originally posted by allen griggs
Here the unions go again.
I would like to know what the wages are. I bet a North Carolina carpenter would do back flips to get that high Yankee union pay.
They must have forgotten the bad old AMF days, when the company nearly went away for good.
I wonder if the unions will be stupid enough to destroy this company, like they did Eastern Airlines.
It really don't matter what the wages are .There is a carpenters union,1 maybe he should contact it.0 -
quote:Originally posted by bpost1958
A motorcycle is simply not worth three to four times the cost of a sedan.
Think about it like this. I bought a Honda Shadow new in 2004. I got rid of it and got Harley in November. It was worth roughly half of what I paid for it in 2004. A friend of mine got a 1970's HD Sportster for some kind of project he had in mind. He paid a couple hundred dollars less than what it had originally cost in the 1970's. Even with inflation in mind, that's still a heck of a resale.
I picked up a 2007 HD Night Train in November. The price tag was within a few hundred dollars of what I paid for my Honda Civic EX sedan new in 2003. My car is 4 years old. My HD will be worth more in 4 years than what my car is worth now. It wasn't 3 times the price of my sedan but it's worth it IMHO.0 -
I come to this forum because I enjoy firearms but am hardly an expert
on them. I have found the advice of most members here to be
invaluable on the recent purchases I have made (and a couple that I
didn't make). But motorcycles is a subject that I would humbly say
I am an expert on. I have been riding for 37 years, have owned over
100 bikes and I am an ex AMA roadracer that has tasted the high
banks at Daytona at 175 mph+. But I must admit I have always been
completely confused with this countries obsession with Harley
Davidson motorcycles. They are slow, don't handle well and until
recently were totally unreliable. Yeah, they do hold their value
well. But I have as yet to own a motorcycle for it's resale value.
I'm an ex union man, an ex serviceman and try to buy products made
in the US of A whenever possible. But when I spend my hard earned
money I want a product that performs and I don't think Harley
delivers. Hey, if you want to ride around to be seen, go right to
your nearest dealer and bring your wheelbarrow load of cash with
you. Don't get me wrong, I am hardly cheap when it comes to my
machines (the Ducati currently in my garage is proof of that). But
in the same way that we want our firearms to perform, I also expect
that in the motorcycle I ride, and all of the Harley's I have been
on failed to live up to what a bike should do.0 -
Harley Davidson won't let them stay out long. The company has too much to lose. I bought a new FXRS in 1991 and two days after I ordered it the HD workers went on strike. The company settled with them in a week's time and my bike only missed the scheduled delivery date by 10 days. 0 -
i was riding harleys when they were on the verge of bankrupcy.stuck with them through thick and thin but the dealers started to get uppity. my last harley was a superglide, slow and uncomfortable. so long harley, i now ride a kawasaki. 0 -
I thought HD was employee owned.
Wouldn't going on strike be kinda like not eating to punish yourself ??
D.0 -
Perhaps the Union would like to provide health insurance for it's members. I'm sure the company would love that option.
JM[:0]0 -
quote:Originally posted by pickenup
Would you still buy a Harley, if it had a tag that said,
Made in Mexico?
There you go! Thats what this is going to start! A plant expansion in Mexico, hide and watch. Harley will eventually have to go the way of the rest of the nation, bust the Unions and get out of the US or go out of business.
Their prices are about 40% higher than the Japanese MFGs and can't continue on that trend. Plus the competition from Victory and others will have a big effect over time.
Freightlinner Trucks just announced they were bailing out of Portland, OR. That will eliminate half of the Union jobs working for the company in Portland currently. They are playing it sly and saying the market is depressed for trucks while building a big new plant in Mexico. They don't have to pay any medical expenses, retirement or big Union Wage down there.0 -
"The company said its proposal included annual wage increases of 4 percent over three years."
Wow, must be nice to have a guaranteed raise.
Where I work I have this horribly oppresive, almost Nazi like rule that I have to, you know, meet / exceed expectations for my current position before I get ANY kind of raise.0 -
I have two friends here at work that used to ride harleys. Now one rides a Kawasaki and the other rides I think a Triumph. Siad the last bikes they had from Harley were garbage.
Interesting article. I've posted it before:
http://www.goingfaster.com/angst/noharley2.html0 -
The cousin of a friend of my brother-in-law said Harleys were junk. [:D][:D] It's the always people who don't ride them that love to criticize them.
I can buy any damn bike I want and I choose to ride Harley Davidsons. I plan to buy a new Electraglide in April. I bought my FXRS new in 1991, have just short of 100,000 miles on it, have ridden it all over the country, and have never even done a valve job on it. It's never broken down on me and it still runs like a top. And I could sell it today for about $1000 less than I paid for it 16 years ago. Let's see you do that with ANY other brand of motorcycle.
In fact, I like the FXRS so much I'm not going to trade it in when I buy the new one. If owning one Harley is good, owning two is twice as good. [^]0 -
" It's the always people who don't ride them that love to criticize them."
I don't own / shoot a Jennings or Lorcin pistol either. But I do know they're not worth anything and are overpriced at the paltry $150 I usually see them at.0 -
It's also usually the people who can't afford a Harley that like to badmouth them.
What do YOU ride, man? Oh, you DON'T ride? What a surprise! [:D]0 -
If a 9mm Lorcin was priced at $1,500, it wouldn't make it a good gun.
I'm not really into street bikes, but I do enjoy a bit of dirtbiking and 4-wheeling.
Yes, people should ride what they want. I simply looked at HDs, the feedback from some previous owners I know, as well as online, saw their size / weight compared to their power and was unimpressed.
I'm not much of an image guy, and having tons of chrome, studded leather and loud pipes doesn't make up for much as far as I'm concerned.0 -
I am a member in the Rose City HOGs of Portland Oregon we have about 400 members. Not a brag just want to let you know that any major problems with Harleys are pretty darn rare. They do happen from time to time but Harleys tend to be about the most reliable bike on the road nowdays.
It didn't used to be that way back in the 1960's and things have changed for the better. Very high quality materials in the bike.
I ride a softail deluxe and like it a lot. I have owned BMW's, several Yamahas and Hondas over the last 45 years and I would never pay any attention to anyone that said Harleys are junk!
They obviously don't know much about bikes if they offer that opinion. Harleys are not as high tech as the current crop of Yamahas, Hondas and others but they are rock solid crusiers and are quite popular.
If they were not good bikes you wouldn't see Yamaha, Honda, Kawasiki, Suzuki and Victory falling all over themselves trying hard to copy Harley. Harley is taking the market by storm and the Japanese brands are now starting to offer the custom paint jobs, custom pipes, and other accesories that were a Harley exclusive for years. They are like a fine Rolex Watch. You pay more but you get a bike that will last a lifetime if you choose to keep it that long.
After 100K on an engine you simply send the engine back to the factory and it is remfg and reinstalled back in your bike and you are off for another 100K. All for 5K or so.0
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