Yesterday's ratification of a new contract brings assembly line back up after a three-year agreement between Harley Davidson and the striking Union is signed.
The strike lasted 3 weeks, and affected thousands of people in several states. We'll find out what it cost the Harley Davidson Motor Corp. some time in the next couple of weeks after they release an impact report.
IAM Local 175 represents over 2,00 people at Harley-Davidson's York plant where they assemble Touring and Softail bikes. This is the company's largest production facility.
The new contract will increase wages by 4% per year for 3 years and has a 2-tiered structure for wages of those hired after the contract goes into effect, meant to bring them up to the same wage as older tenured employees by the end of the contract's term. Employees will not be required to pay premiums for health care, but will have larger deductibles and co-payments.
In my opinion, it was nothing but a greedy ploy by both the union members and the company to try to milk as much as they could from the other, without regard for how it might have affected thousands of families at other facilities in other states.
