K.C. Harley workers approve contract

Quote :

Union members at Harley-Davidson’s Kansas City plant approved a new labor agreement that is expected to save the company $15 million a year and eliminate 145 positions from the full-time payroll.

The plant, located near Kansas City International Airport, includes a number of workers from the St. Joseph area.

Harley-Davidson announced the seven-year contract on its website Monday. The company had been seeking concessions as its sales and profitability struggled during the recession.

“Together with our unions, Harley-Davidson is making the necessary changes across all our production facilities to succeed in a competitive, global marketplace,” said Keith Wandell, president and chief executive officer of Harley-Davidson. “The company is well on its way to building a world-class, sustainable, lean operating structure and I want to thank our employees at Kansas City for their participation in this journey. The ratification of the new contract will help ensure that we can continue to meet and exceed the expectations of our customers.”

The new labor agreement with employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local 176 and the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 760 takes effect Aug. 1 and will be implemented in phases.

Similar agreements were ratified by employees at the company’s operations in York, Pa., in December 2009 and in Milwaukee and Tomahawk, Wis., in September 2010.

Harley-Davidson said it needed a new production system with greater flexibility for seasonal and other volume-related production changes, an enhanced ability to vary product mix in line with customer preferences including the customization of motorcycles at the factory, and greater production efficiency overall. The operating structure includes the use of flexible workers — unionized employees who work as required, depending on seasonal and other volume needs and to provide coverage for vacations and other absences.

Upon implementation of the new labor agreements, the company expects to have about 540 full-time hourly unionized employees at the Kansas City facility, down from 685 today. The company also expects its Kansas City production workforce to include about 145 flexible positions.

Sure sounds like it, Hack.

I know some people that work at the plant.

Not all warm and fuzzy down there......