Wis. Harley workers approve labor contract

[Ramjet]

WAUKESHA, Wis. – Harley-Davidson workers in Wisconsin approved a labor contract Monday that included a number of steep concessions after the company threatened to move hundreds of production jobs out of the state.

The proposed seven-year deal includes steep concessions including freezing their pay, slashing hundreds of jobs and assigning large volumes of work to part-time workers. Some 1,140 union members who work at the Menomonee Falls plant in suburban Milwaukee voted on the deal. It was approved by a 55 to 45 percent margin.

Harley-Davidson Inc. executives had said they would move production out of Wisconsin if the contract was rejected. That would have eliminated about 1,350 jobs.

[Walküre]

With a gun like that, held to the head...of COURSE they were bound to "make concessions"...

Now, I just wonder how big the bonus was, of the exec who "brokered" the concessions? Couple million? More??

As long as they can keep driving the labor lower and lower and lower. When it's all said and done, NO one will be able to afford ANY thing, but those with a gazillion bucks, will still have a gazillion bucks...

Yet I see SO many in labor, defending these crooks...

Sad.

R

[dreamaker]

For what you pay for a Harley the workers must make about $40-$45 and hour. 
Its about that MBA junk people think they are a god but in reality they mess up the companies and get bonuses for failure and the workers down the line suffer and pay for it. Henry Ford still has the best idea for business. Make modest profits over a long period of time and get ride of the investors and run a company like it should be. Focus on the success of the company and the satisfaction of the customer not the greed of the investors.  Common sense tells us what goes up must come down. So when you make a company like a city, it needs to support it self in the future and not be destine for failure and let the blue collar people sort it out. Just my opinion, it seems that Harley was doing well in the day when people had to be on a waiting list to get a Harley. Truth is businesses rot from the top down not the bottom up.

Dan

[rainman]

concessions what does it mean?
this is what concessions means to alot of people you are still going to loose your jobs just not right away.  to many hourly people have take concessions and with in a year or so the company still closes the door or has less than 100 people left working Just like RCA, GE, Oits Elv. all of these companys were in bloomington Ind.  now G.E in bloomington that use to have 5800 hourly folk are down to just around 500 and they are still cutting heads.

I WOULD TELL THEM TO HIT THE ROAD AND WILL LOAN YOU MY TRUCK TO HELP YOU MOVE IT!

[Sludge]

I dont know what all the fuss is about.  Unions have been driving companies under for years.  Pull up roots, and move to Ga, NC, SC, Tn, ... Plenty of folks here willing to work without unions.

[Walküre]

I dont know what all the fuss is about.  Unions have been driving companies under for years.  Pull up roots, and move to Ga, NC, SC, Tn, ... Plenty of folks here willing to work without unions.

Yup,  plenty of people willing to keep average wages down, work for peanuts, lower middle class wages down to lower class wages, all the whole saying that the boss should make a gazillion dollars, for keeping our wages at minimum, or slightly above minimum wages...and all the time blaming unions for trying to give them a living wage.

 WTF is wrong with you???

Sludge...fits...

[Sharkey]

I dont know what all the fuss is about.  Unions have been driving companies under for years.  Pull up roots, and move to Ga, NC, SC, Tn, ... Plenty of folks here willing to work without unions.

Yup,  plenty of people willing to keep average wages down, work for peanuts, lower middle class wages down to lower class wages, all the whole saying that the boss should make a gazillion dollars, for keeping our wages at minimum, or slightly above minimum wages...and all the time blaming unions for trying to give them a living wage.

 WTF is wrong with you???

Sludge...fits...

Nothing is wrong with Sludge he stated his opinion. Mine is pretty much the same..
 I was a Teamster for years. I am vested in Central States pension fund.  Leaving the Union was the best choice for me. I now a recognized for my accomplishments, and rewarded accordingly.

[Walküre]

welcome to the race to the bottom. Winner loses all.

[Chillerman]

I dont know what all the fuss is about.  Unions have been driving companies under for years.  Pull up roots, and move to Ga, NC, SC, Tn, ... Plenty of folks here willing to work without unions.

Yup,  plenty of people willing to keep average wages down, work for peanuts, lower middle class wages down to lower class wages, all the whole saying that the boss should make a gazillion dollars, for keeping our wages at minimum, or slightly above minimum wages...and all the time blaming unions for trying to give them a living wage.

 WTF is wrong with you???

Sludge...fits...

Hmm, I work for a union and can't stand it!  What a union does is overpay the underskilled.  As long as you have your time in you will make as much as the guy next to you whether you are worth it or not.  What incentive is there to get better at your job when it doesn't really matter how good you are? The union also makes it almost impossible to fire incompetent people.  Just take a look at the teacher's union.  In my opinion unions are one of the main reason that our jobs are getting shipped overseas.  If we were paid on how we perform then America would not be in the spot is in today.

[Walküre]

Hmmmm...then quit the union...

[Serk]

Hmmmm...then quit the union...

I don't see his state (Colorado) in the list of Right to Work states, thus he might not have that option:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-to-work_law

[Chillerman]

Hmmmm...then quit the union...

I'm in the process of moving into a salaried position where I would actually have to compete to move up!  What a concept!!!!!!!  Something most union workers know nothing about.

[Jess Tolbirt]

I did quit the union,
union electrician for 20 years,,,sat on the books for over 3 years and just about lost everything,,now working for a non union company with bennies, life is ok once again,,
BTW i am making about 2 dollars less an hour that what the union pays and i havent missed a days pay in over 3 years now,,,the unions had thier place then got greedy,,,now all they want is your dues,,,,

[Sludge]

Hmm I think I touched a nerve.  I was going to come back with a witty retort, but it seems everyone else has made most of my points for me.   Thanks guys.  I dont feel like such a villain anymore.

Oh, and Sludge DOES fit. I plan on pumping a hundred thousand gallons or so of it tomorrow.  Thats what puts food on my table. 

[solo1]

My mind was made up about unions when I was a kid.  I went to work at General Electric making 'widgets', second shift. It was a closed union shop. The very first night I made a lot of 'widgets', it was easy work.  The second night I was visited by the union steward who told me that I'd made about 25% more than the day guy and I'd better slow down or else.  From then on I made less 'widgets' and sat on my ass for about an hour before quitting time.

I wonder where we, the US would be today if the above union attitude would've been different.

I retired as an environmental test engineer, no union, worked for a good company, was treated fairly, made a decent salary, was never laid off, and took pride in my work.

Unions were good at first but somewhere they lost their way.  The incompetent got the same rewards as the competent,  Sound familiar?

I will say no more.

[Sludge]

The incompetent got the same rewards as the competent,  Sound familiar?

Sounds like communism to me 

[czuch]

Too many lazy incompetents where I work. There was talk about switching from machinists to teamsters. I was all for it. They put the kibosch on it because too many "good people" would lose their jobs. These are the long timers who dont retire because they would have to do something other than sit. Its maddening. I was in the union and got out. Now I have people who I've known for years who wont speak to me. HAHA. There was a strike and the other plants didnt even slow down.
I have the respect of people I respect and a very real opportunity for advancement.
They complain about respect, but do nothing to earn it.

[Chillerman]

Hmmmm...then quit the union...

I don't see his state (Colorado) in the list of Right to Work states, thus he might not have that option:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-to-work_law

Serk, you are correct, I like the company I work for but could not work for them in the position I am in if I quit the union.  This is the main reason I am trying to get a salaried position with them.

I did quit the union,
union electrician for 20 years,,,sat on the books for over 3 years and just about lost everything,,now working for a non union company with bennies, life is ok once again,,
BTW i am making about 2 dollars less an hour that what the union pays and i havent missed a days pay in over 3 years now,,,the unions had thier place then got greedy,,,now all they want is your dues,,,,

Jess, I'm in the pipefitters union (although I do HVAC) and could go work for a non union company making less, but if you take the dues into consideration and the health benefits and vacation pay I would get it is probably a wash.  Add to that the pipefitters have taken money from our pension fund (stolen!) to invest in failed luxury hotels and WE have to pay that money back!  Talk about corruption, kind of sounds like our government.

[Oss]

my grandad was in a newspaper union.  3 men sit around waiting to work 1 job in the early days

like 1910-1920 period   My other grandad also was a union man.

When they got out around 1960 both had enough of the unions because everything changed

It wasnt about the right to work anymore, and yes many early union organizers were communist or socialist, those were the times and there wasnt such a very negative sigma like after WWII about it.

Fighting pinkertons was the image and the triangle factory fire was in the public mind then

IMHO by the 1960's and 70's the Unions and Management both blew it, organized crime blew it, the government blew it, lets face it we all stood by and let it happen and made it even worse by not buying american once we realized we were making worse crap than the japanese for instance in the auto industry.  we have a grand caravan, a saturn, a 300m, and an Altima   How many of you complaining about unions getting hosed drive american cars?

and how about a tax system that rewards a company for creating american jobs and a set of tariffs that level the field against china and countries that dump stuff here for less than it costs to make it

[big turkey]

When Labor Contracts give Concessions it's over basically.

They will leave our shores before 10 years are up.

And it won't be the first time.

Harley faithful will hate this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rikuo_Motorcycle

[big turkey]

Rikuo Motorcycle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Rikuo RQ750 1957

Rikuo Internal Combustion Company (陸王, Rikuo Nainenki Kabushiki kaisha?) was one of the first motorcycles manufactured in Japan, originally in the early 1930s under license and name of Harley Davidson using their tooling, and then under the name Rikuo until 1958.[1]

There is a fairly comprehensive history here [2] – although even this author admits there are some details unknown as Harley-Davidson themselves did not publicize this Japanese connection. This, because effectively, it could be that the Japanese were helped in mass-production techniques by the introduction of this factory into Japan just prior to the Second World War.
Contents
[hide]

    * 1 History
    * 2 Specifications
    * 3 References
    * 4 External links

[edit] History

Harley-Davidson, through the efforts of Alfred Rich Child, shipped tooling and personnel to Japan in the mid-1930s to build HD VL flathead (sidevalve) motorcycles.

When Harley-Davidson was prepared to produce the new EL OHV Knucklehead design, they insisted that the Japanese factory buy the license to produce the EL as well. However Sankyo, Rikuo's parent company, was reluctant to produce the new vehicles and refused to make this commitment.

Almost simultaneously, Japan’s government was becoming increasingly militaristic leading up to World War II and eventually suggested that Harley-Davidson employees, including Mr. Child, leave the country. The motorcycle continued production under the name of Rikuo, meaning “Land King” or “Continent King.” Rikuo built approximately 18,000 motorcycles between 1937 and 1942, most of which were sold to the Japanese military and Japanese police departments.[3]

Sidecar combinations called Type 97 were produced for military work in the Philippines and Manchuria during the Second World War. Solo machines were supplied to civilian police forces, for example for Osaka in the 1950s.[1]

After the war the remaining factory continued producing the 750cc (45 cubic inch) RQ and 1200cc (74 cubic inch) VLE models still using the old flathead, total-loss lubrication design. The 750 gained a telescopic front suspension and the 1200 model retained springer forks. All of the new motorcycles were made with hardtail rear ends. In 1950 and 1951, the plant produced about fifty 45 cubic inch motors per month and thirty 74's with sidecars. By August 1952 production was estimated at approximately seventy 45's a month while the 74's stayed about the same. The 45 and 74 models are near exact copies of the 1934 Harley Davidson. An OHV version was prototyped, but never produced. [2]
RikuoVL-BluePaint

The factory began to use the "Tele-Glide" type front suspension in or around 1950 on the 750cc units, but while updating the sheet metal on the VL type, retained the "Springer" type front suspension on those units. Therefore, the 1950s 750s are basically the Harley-Davidson 45 cu.in. RL of the early 1930s, and the 1950s 1200s are the Harley-Davidson VL of the same era, but both with updated sheet metal (the updated front fork of the RQ/RT notwithstanding).
[edit] Specifications

The RQ has a 747cc engine that develops 22 bhp at 4250 rpm and 4 Kgm of torque at 3000 rpm. The complete motorcycle weighs 230 Kg. [3]
[edit] References

   1. ^ Hugo Vanneck (March 1998). "Japan's King of the Road". Classic Bike. pp. 93–97.
   2. ^ Harry V. Sucher (August 1981). "Harley-Davidson". Haynes Publishing Group Ltd. pp. 79–88.
   3. ^ Margie Siegal (January/February 2007). "Rikuo V-twin". Motorcycle Classics. http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/motorcycle-reviews/Motorcycle-Review/Rikuo-V-twin.aspx. Retrieved 2009-08-13.

[edit] External links

    * Rikuo News Japanese website with English information page.
    * 1955 Rikuo RQ Honda Collection Hall article
    * 1958 Rikuo RT2 American Motorcyclists Association article
    * Rikuo Type 97 Vladivostok Oldtimers Museum photos

Factory 1b.svg    Companies portal
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rikuo_Motorcycle"
Categories: Motorcycles by brand | Motorcycle manufacturers of Japan
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Harley Davidson actually helped the Japanese setup Mass Production unknowingly and set

in motion a Military Giant to control the Pacific Rim.

Harley basically changed history in a unwanted way.



Big AL