Posted on 09/13/2010 6:50:33 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The chief executive of Harley-Davidson Inc. has urged Wisconsin employees to approve an unpopular labor contract Monday, telling them the motorcycle company is prepared to move on without them if they turn it down.
CEO Keith Wandell wrote a letter last week telling the workers it's up to them to decide whether they want to remain part of Harley's future.
"We are on a course to build a competitive company for the future and a business that is sustainable long term," the letter said. "Nothing can get in the way of this objective."
The workers, who make motorcycle engines in Milwaukee and windshields and other components in the northern Wisconsin city of Tomahawk, were scheduled to vote on the proposed contract Monday. The results should be available by the evening.
The seven-year deal would freeze their pay, slash hundreds of jobs and assign large volumes of work to part-time workers. If the employees reject the deal, Harley has said it will move its Wisconsin operations to another state, leaving about 1,350 employees here out of work.
The company says labor costs in Wisconsin are so high that it's only feasible to keep the plants open if workers agree to concessions.
Tom Koltz, who has worked at the company for 22 years, doesn't buy that explanation. The 56-year-old from Cudahy acknowledges the tough economic climate, but he said Harley is turning its back on longtime loyal workers.
The company could have asked the union to help work out a fair compromise, he said. Instead, Harley is "putting the squeeze on us," said Koltz, a product-development mechanic. "This is a downright attempt to crush the union."
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearmarkets.com ...
they should .
Unions suck
H-D could always go begging for another import tariff on foreign competition.
I can see Harley heading south soon. Less unions and a growing population of skilled labor, what more could a manufacturer ask for.
Why bother giving the union a deadline? In this economy about any business can cut a deal with another state or local government for sweet economic dev. packages. They should just move the plant and be done with it.
its un American for Harley to be union...our small city is paying lawyers 20 thousand a month to keep the fire dept out of the union..our dear firemen thought they wantet to go union then changed their minds..Now the union is sueing the city to force them to go union...
Next thing you’ll see is they’ll roll out that idiot... er... Harley icon, Willie G for a few comforting words.
...the Harley unions better wake up...hard economic times mean people don’t have money to buy big boy toys...and not only that, it’s a lot harder for buyers to get credit...sales of motorcycles, jet skis, ATVs, UTVs are all slowing now.
Come to TEXAS, HD!
We are a Right To Work state and loaded with literally tens of thousands HD riders!
Not a good idea to let a good job go away during 10% unemployment.
If they're smart they will do just that!!!
But where is the environmentally benign green Harley? I can’t believe the Mr. Skittles will let management talk harshly to union labor? Oh the huge manatee!!
To the CEO of HD:
Feel free to bring your factory to my small NC town. We don’t need no stinkin’ union...as long as there’s a hefty employee discount...
Shoot, we’d probably even re-name our town in your honor.
Hey Harley unions - shove your crappy bikes. The engines are garbage. If I want to buy a bike I will go to Japanese or Italian unions like a Ducati. Harleys are for old men who shove corn cobs up....... Shove it losers.
RE: Shoot, we’d probably even re-name our town in your honor.
What’s it gonna be ? Harley, NC or Davidson, NC ?
The name Harley-Davidson, NC sounds kinda strange...
Florida is a right to work state and home to Daytona’s Bike Week and Biketoberfest. Daytona Beach also is home to Bruce Rossmeyer’s Harley Davidson - purportedly the world’s largest Harley dealer. Volusia County is also very economically challenged and would welcome a reputable employer like Harley if the ingrates in the unions up there no longer want the jobs that Harley lets them perform.
The Harley Unions can drop dead. All the old guys who were buying Harleys stopped ceuase they are broke now. Hard times for old men who is their target market. Old men can break a hip on one of their bikes too. It’s an old man’s bike.
Does anyone think that anyone other than law enforcement will be allowed to own a motorcycle, at least one bigger than a moped) after obamacare is instituted?
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