Workers Strike At Harley’s York Plant
This is an interesting situation- It makes you wonder if the unions and workers are paying attention at all to what is happening in the US auto industry. Toyota is getting ready to eclipse GM as the world’s largest automaker and one of the main reasons is because GM has put themselves in really bad position with their promised benefits.
From Speed-
The union voted Wednesday to authorize a strike after rejecting the company’s contract offer, which would have reduced pay rates for new hires, required employees to pay part of their health insurance premiums and forced pension concessions.
In anticipation of the walkout, the company shut down production at the plant on Thursday.
“We are obviously disappointed by the union’s decision,” said Fred Gates, general manager of Harley-Davidson’s York operations. “The proposed contract was structured to help manage future costs that could be detrimental to our business over the long term.”
But union members said they felt management’s proposal would be a backward step.