In the midst of plummeting motorcycle sales worldwide, members of IAM Local 175 in York, PA voted to ratify a new seven-year agreement with Harley-Davidson.
The agreement, which was unanimously recommended by the Local 175 Negotiating Committee, includes significant job cuts, restructuring and a commitment by Harley-Davidson to abandon plans to move motorcycle production from York, PA, to a site in Shelbyville, Kentucky.
“This is not the first time that Machinists at Harley-Davidson have stepped up to bail this company out in times of trouble,” said Lynn D. Tucker, Jr, IAM Eastern Territory General Vice President. “It was a partnership with the IAM and other unions in the 1980s that revived the brand when it was left for dead.”
As part of the new agreement, Harley will invest $90 million in much needed plant improvements in the York facility, and workers facing layoff can choose severance pay and a $10,000 bonus, or they can decline the bonus and be eligible for recall.
“The workers who ratified this contract today did not cause the global recession, nor are their paychecks or pensions responsible for the dramatic decline in motorcycle sales,” said Tucker. “Their extraordinary sacrifices, in the 1980s and again this week, are why this company is here today and why it will still be here tomorrow.”
