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After operating for over 20 years, Harley-Davidson closed its factory in Kansas City, MO in May 2019, resulting in the loss of jobs for about 800 IAM members. Harley’s announcement about the closing of the Kansas City plant coincided with their opening of an assembly plant in Thailand.
“It was devastating,” said IAM member and former employee Kevin Amos. “It was shocking. It took quite a while for it to set in that it’s happening to us.”
The Harley plant is one of dozens of IAM-represented facilities that have closed during the Trump administration.
“It was crushing,” said IAM member and former employee Joshua Henry. “I was losing this job that I had no plan on leaving because I truly loved it.”
“I very much enjoyed getting up and going to work every day,” commented IAM member and former employee April Major. “Harley can’t be Harley without us.”
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“Harley-Davison is another company that joined a fast-growing list of companies who have outsourced good paying American, union jobs under the Trump administration,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “When someone mentions American motorcycle, the first company everyone thinks of is Harley-Davidson. Harley was the bike we all wanted. Its name was synonymous with riding on the open highway, being free and chasing the American dream. This company should be ashamed of themselves.”
“The Harley closing shook not only middle America, but resonated around the country,” said IAM Midwest Territory General Vice President Steve Galloway. “Harley motorcycles were a part of the American fabric. Just a year before the announcement, Harley executives were at the White House shaking hands with the president with talks of expansion. When the company announced it was closing its Kansas City plant, we reached out to the president for help and received no response. If they can move American jobs just like that, I fear what another four years under the Trump administration will bring. Tomorrow’s election is the first step we can take to bring back American jobs.”
