Harley-Davidson won't expand Milwaukee plants, will build out-of-state
The Business Journal of Milwaukee - 2:07 PM CDT Mondayby Rich Rovito
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Harley-Davidson Inc. announced Monday that it will build an additional motorcycle powertrain manufacturing and assembly plant outside of Wisconsin after the union representing hourly workers at the company's Milwaukee-area plants rejected contract concessions.

A new plant is needed to accommodate the expanded production of Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson's Big Twin motorcycle engines and transmissions, company management said.


The announcement follows a vote Monday by members of Harley-Davidson's largest union, United Steelworkers Local 2-209, not to accept a plan that would have been favorable to expanding production capacity in Milwaukee.

Leaders of the union, which represents about 1,500 employees at Harley's plants in Wauwatosa and Menomonee Falls, had recommended that rank-and-file workers agree to concessions that would have cut pension benefits for existing employees, lowered wages for new hires and resulted in increased health care premiums.

In return, Harley management had vowed to invest $120 million to expand the company's Milwaukee-area factories.

Harley management had advised its international and local unions of the need to add capacity and to do so in a way that would significantly reduce future costs and improve flexibility.

"We're disappointed with the vote, but we need to address capacity, cost and flexibility in tandem," said Rod Copes, vice president and general manager of Harley-Davidson's powertrain operations in Menomonee Falls.

"Harley-Davidson is very successful today and all of us want to keep it that way," Copes said. "That means being good stewards and actively managing costs across the entire organization that could be detrimental to our business over the long term if we don't start to control them now."

Over the past 10 years, Harley-Davidson's shipments of motorcycles containing the Big Twin engines have nearly tripled. Harley invested $175 million in engine production upgrades at Milwaukee-area plants between 2004 and 2006.

Harley introduced the newest generation of Big Twin engine, the Twin Cam 96, in July to what company management has deemed "enthusiastic consumer and dealer response."

Company management said it will meet with representatives from the unions representing Harley-Davidson workers to "find the best possible U.S. location" for a new engine and transmission plant.

The company said the jobs of existing Milwaukee-area production workers are not at risk as a result of the decision to build a new plant elsewhere in the United States.

The company currently has powertrain manufacturing operations in Wauwatosa, Menomonee Falls and Kansas City, Mo., final assembly operations in York, Pa., and Kansas City, and components manufacturing in Tomahawk.

Jim Wheiland, president of Local 2-209, could not be reached for comment.

 

And we wonder why there are so many problems with the new bikes. I'd be disgruntled to if I worked for the moco.
Gary D.

 

They might build the greatest motorcycle in the world, but they are still a big business, and the corporate mindset remains the same...more productivity with less workers...higher profits usually at the hourly employees expense..it's the American way! I was Union Pres. for a UAW shop years back,and negotiating with corporate people infuriated me....we argued for a whole afternoon once over an additional 5 cent pay increase and you would have thought we were raping them. In the meantime, they took turns relating the plans they had with their spouses for Sweetest Day....one was taking his wife to the French Quarter for the weekend,another to their 3rd house down in Florida,and another was shopping for a new Vette. ....i guess that extra nickel put a real crimp in their plans. Sad thing is, there are those that would blame the unions for our troubles. I've seen firsthand what happens to a shop that decertifies the union and it aint pretty........guess my own experinces have soured me on big business in general. Rant over.

 

this is 'the fix' for the 07 transmission problems!!!! [8D]

 

You cant believe what these kinda things do to a companys workforce.And the effects last well beyond the final outcome.This is the new american company ways anymore.The steelworkers,airline workers etc.all have gone thru this corporate greed and have ruined great companys only to fill CEOs pockets,make shareholders happier all while driving the little guy into poverty.Yes stand up for yourselves and dont let them take your future anyway from you.They can save this $ other ways,starting at the top of their own offices.Asking for this from your workforce is not the way to go.Good luck to all.

 

you may need to consider the otherside as well. The union is one of the reasons you pay as much for a Harley as you would for a used late model BMW or a new Cevy or Ford.

 

The bottom line with any compnay is that they are in business to MAKE MONEY. It seems to someone who has little money such as myself that those on the top rungs of any business are greedy and that the people below them always get taken advantage of. That is my view, but if I had spent many years in college and grad school as well, I would feel like I want my piece of the pie too. I have a friend who is a teacher. He has spent 6 years in college and still doesn't have his permanent teaching credential. His salary is rather meager as he is a teacher, but it will go up as he gets more education. I won't complain about this as the education is there if I am willing to get it, I just am not willing.

So what, money will not dictate how I feel about myself anyway, but maybe that is just me. Also I don't have any children as I am aware that I wouldn't be able to take care of them yet. Yet...

 

As long as it stays in the US, fine by me. Put it in IA. Then you have a direct line from WI to KS.

 

Bull....a study was done on just this train of thought a few years back with General Motors...and it found that hourly workers wages contributed very little to the cost of the vehicles, but the high cost of upper management perks...bonuses,golden parachutes,wages,etc. added substantialy to the final price. I have to admit,though,in this day and age, health care costs are also a huge factor for any business...it just irks me that you never hear of a CEO or Vice Presidents making any concessions...it's always the people that do the actual work....they are expendable.

 

Sorry to contradict you (somewhat), but what is killing GM is the union benefits like health care. Before they got concessions to lower their payments, GM was paying out over $5 BILLION (and it would have been 6 soon). That correlated to about 1500 PER CAR cost. For health insurance. The managment are the ones screwing up product lines that could be real profitable, but the health care thing was outrageous.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/17/news...oner/index.htm