 Harley plant still on strike
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'05 America
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Tough thing these negotiations with unions etc....I feel sorry for the 13,000 UAW folks that got the ax last week from Chrysler..... Harley may follw suit. Sad situation, really.
'02 TBA,904,Scepter,K&N,and a little bling too!
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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It's big news around this area. With the largest plant being 25 minutes away alot of people are affected by this.
Hope they resolve soon..
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Loquacious
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I stopped by the local HD dealer the other day. They were overflowing with new bikes.
Time to get a Victory.
Kevin - Luceo Non Uro
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Monkey Butt
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Monkey Butt
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A local Harley dealer put up on his sign due to the strike you should be getting your bike now while they last. Exploiting the strike would be a good reason for me not to buy at that dealership.
In a country where the average middle class worker is going backwards on buying power the Harley workers are paid very well. Almost nobody gets 100% health coverage etc. If they stay out much longer Harley may lash out and break that union. The ripple effect on York as a city and 3rd party suppliers will be felt too.
The average American worker has 30 days pay in the bank. This is a bad thing for the workers, very bad. Rent, short term loans, bad credit ratings. If they stay out 60 days, no matter what happens they will never make up the loss.
I try to aggravate one person a day. Today may be your day.
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Jan 2005
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"Lighten up, Francis."
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"Lighten up, Francis."
Joined: Jan 2005
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Quote:
A local Harley dealer put up on his sign due to the strike you should be getting your bike now while they last. Exploiting the strike would be a good reason for me not to buy at that dealership.
In that case I think you're looking for integrity in the wrong place.
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Aug 2005
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Loquacious
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The local HD dealer here is running ads that are similar. I don't see anything wrong with advertising come look at the new bikes while the selection is good, etc.
Bob
2005 America, 904cc - sold. 2014 Trophy SE.
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Bar Shake
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Bar Shake
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News in the paper this morning says they're close to resolution.
Contra todo mal, mezcal; contra todo bien, también
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Loquacious
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I spent the summer of 1988 marching a picket line, It's no fun at all.
I dont think HD wants to break that union, if that were the case they would not have closed the plant.
Pretty slimey of any dealer to try and use the strike to their advantage. Thing is HD's main clientel is no longer working class Americans with union conections.
The percentage you're paying is too high-priced
While you're living beyond all your means
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Feb 2005
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Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
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Quote:
I spent the summer of 1988 marching a picket line, It's no fun at all.
I dont think HD wants to break that union, if that were the case they would not have closed the plant.
Pretty slimey of any dealer to try and use the strike to their advantage. Thing is HD's main clientel is no longer working class Americans with union conections.
Yep Jack! NOW do you guys see why Harley has always cultivated that "One-Percenter Attitude"("Hey out there!...Buy a Harley...Be a "tough guy"!) and pushes that mindset front and center(witness that gawd-awful Harley commercial that somebody posted here last week) to the "Workin' Man", and LATELY to the "professional types", i.e. RUBS???
It's so that they will always AT LEAST have "some" market share(one-percent) when the going gets tough and the motorcycle buying public finally WISE UP and find out that there are COOLER and BETTER rides out there(like maybe a TRIUMPH?!) for them to purchase, SEE???!!!
YEAH! That's it! 
But, I wouldn't hold my breathe about THIS happening anytime soon, guys....You DO realize of course that the american public seems to be getting dumber every single day, and NOT smarter, DON'T CHA???  
Cheers,
Dwight
(ya know...I'd a never thought o' this part of the equation if weren't for that economics class I took at my local community college years ago!!!) 
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Feb 2005
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I've heard that the MSRP on an 883 has gone up to $16K. Of course, that's before any H-D stamped chrome flunkiedoodles are bolted on !!
Last edited by BonnyBeemer; 02/17/2007 4:50 PM.
MIKE
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Jan 2005
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"Lighten up, Francis."
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"Lighten up, Francis."
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 18,825 |
Depends on your perspective.
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Big Bore
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Big Bore
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I believe you heard correctly Mike. The first time we went over to that HD dealership so Janet could sit an 883, we were told +$15k for a stocker and 'with some nice chrome extras' it was only about $18k!
For a Sportster??????????
The one thing we noticed when checking on the dyno last week was how nicely they lined up the bikes. Had to have been over 100 bikes in there, lined up by type. Real friggin pretty.
"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity" - Robert Heinlein
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Should be Riding
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Should be Riding
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Bar Shake
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Bar Shake
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Contra todo mal, mezcal; contra todo bien, también
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 18,825
"Lighten up, Francis."
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"Lighten up, Francis."
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 18,825 |
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Aug 2006
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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Apparently this is not as important nationally as Britney's head or Anna's corpse. So there has been no mention of it (at least none that I've seen). Are they still on strike?
Should I go down to my local HD dealer and create a disturbance by asking the price of the new FLXYZ Scab-ro-Glide?
The percentage you're paying is too high-priced
While you're living beyond all your means
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 12,164 Likes: 1
Should be Riding
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Should be Riding
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Aug 2006
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Loquacious
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ah thats good news, thanks soren.
The percentage you're paying is too high-priced
While you're living beyond all your means
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Monkey Butt
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Monkey Butt
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So they lost about 5,000 each in gross pay from the strike. If they settled for maybe what amounts to a buck an hour difference in pay or benefits they will recover that loss from the strike in just over two years.
With pay and benefits for the month looks like Harley did not spend about 18 million for the month. If this is the slow period Harley may have been the big winner in this strike.
I try to aggravate one person a day. Today may be your day.
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Bar Shake
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Bar Shake
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They kept their health care benefits and got a raise of 12% over three years.
There are always issues in contract negotiations other than strictly wages. Sometimes strikes (or lockouts) are called over an impasse in contract language that has nothing to do with wages. Many of the things that we take for granted today (40 hour week, worker's compensation, payment in legal tender, child labor laws, etc.) are a direct result of the sacrifices of previous generations of organized workers.
Contra todo mal, mezcal; contra todo bien, también
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Monkey Butt
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Monkey Butt
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I am glad the workers survived it okay.
The good thing for them is Harley is made in America and Harley intends to keep it that way. Harley buyers, even RUBs like that tradition and heritage.
Odd, how Harley stays in America paying the big money due to tradition and respect for the roots of the company.
Thats probably one of the reasons they have a loyal following. I doubt there would be much demand for a Road King made in Thailand for example.
I try to aggravate one person a day. Today may be your day.
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Oct 2005
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Adjunct
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Looks like it is a 12% pay rise over the term of the 3yr contract, that works out to about 1.5% after adjusting for inflation. For a guy making $50K/yr that's a net gain of $750/yr. This worker just gave up $4,200 for the month, so he'll recoup his loss in 5.5 years.
He got to keep the same health coverage, but this will be done at the expense of new hires. What neither of these statements say is that starting wages were reduced from previous levels.
Sounds like a win for The Motor Company. Maybe next time, the workers at York will talk to a few people at Honda, Toyota or BMW (South Carolina), to see what they are losing by being a union member
'05 America - Tec 2-1 (from a Thruxton)/ 4 pot caliper/ Kurt's Rearsets /
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Sep 2006
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Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
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Quote:
Sounds like a win for The Motor Company.
It nearly always is
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Maybe next time, the workers at York will talk to a few people at Honda, Toyota or BMW (South Carolina), to see what they are losing by being a union member
Hog wash - You think they would have faired better without - No. Best case senario is they would have gotten whatever the first offer consisted of. Sadly, give-backs have been and continue to be the trend. Most often the only recourse organized labor has to maintain status quo is to sacrifice the benefits of future hires - And that's a bad thing. After about a decade or two of that and you'll see Americans forging the Rio Grande to find work in Mexico - H3ll, thats probably why the freakin' government wants that fence built now.
2004 Triumph Speedmaster (J Lo) 2006 Yamaha Stratoliner (Adele)
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Old Hand
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Old Hand
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Well dagnabit, I guess I'll have to give up plans to preserve my Softail as a rare collector then....  It's getting preserved pretty much anyway, it's a nice highway bike, but the America does better around locally.
Let's hope there's intelligent life somewhere in space 'cause it's buggar all down here. -- Monte Python
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Aug 2006
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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Quote:
Sounds like a win for The Motor Company. Maybe next time, the workers at York will talk to a few people at Honda, Toyota or BMW (South Carolina), to see what they are losing by being a union member
Those people you at Toyota, Honda and what have you, are getting what they have because the owners want to keep the Unions out......Do you really think that they pay what they do because they are nice guys?
The percentage you're paying is too high-priced
While you're living beyond all your means
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,821
Bar Shake
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Bar Shake
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,821 |
Quote:
Quote:
Sounds like a win for The Motor Company. Maybe next time, the workers at York will talk to a few people at Honda, Toyota or BMW (South Carolina), to see what they are losing by being a union member
Those people you at Toyota, Honda and what have you, are getting what they have because the owners want to keep the Unions out......Do you really think that they pay what they do because they are nice guys?
We're making inroads though. Many Toyotas, Mitsubishis, Mazdas, Isuzus and others are being made by UAW workers.
union made
Contra todo mal, mezcal; contra todo bien, también
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Adjunct
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Quote:
Quote:
Sounds like a win for The Motor Company. Maybe next time, the workers at York will talk to a few people at Honda, Toyota or BMW (South Carolina), to see what they are losing by being a union member
Those people you at Toyota, Honda and what have you, are getting what they have because the owners want to keep the Unions out......Do you really think that they pay what they do because they are nice guys?
Nope, and that's the point. It doesn't take a union to get them anything... It just takes the threat of a union.
Workers at Toyota & Honda watch as the GM's, Fords & Chrysler workers strike, & come back for a pittance of what they should have made to begin with, meanwhile, Toyota & Honda ante up to keep them happy so they don't have to deal with the same headaches.
Unfortunately, for the worker it is a one way street. Once a shop is a union shop, it has to stay a union shop. Otherwise, the threat of unionizing is gone. On the other hand, non-union shops have an Ace in the hole.
Frito Lay's semi-truck drivers have done this for years, few of them want to unionize, but mgt is so afraid they will that they rarely push the workers. It works so well there that they are even able to keep new hires coming in with very competitive wages.
'05 America - Tec 2-1 (from a Thruxton)/ 4 pot caliper/ Kurt's Rearsets /
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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We're making inroads though. Many Toyotas, Mitsubishis, Mazdas, Isuzus and others are being made by UAW workers.
union made
The link is a bit deceiving if someone doesn't know about the plants that build these cars.
Toyota Carolla & Tacoma, built at Nummi in Fremont, CA was an existing Union shop when Toyota began its joint venture with GM. Like I said above, once your union shop, you have to stay a union shop. Unless it has changed drastically since the last time I was in that plant, benefits there are almost as good as the non-union Toyota plants. Also, buyer beware if you are a "buy union" type guy who is looking for a Corolla, the majority of them are built at non-union Toyota in Cambridge, Ontario
The Mazdas, Saab & Isuzus are produced at existing Ford & GM plants, all of which were already union shops. There are no Saab workers screwing lugnuts onto SUV's in Ohio. Same goes for Isuzu, who by the way, just sold their only US plant to Toyota, who is now building more Camry's there.
'05 America - Tec 2-1 (from a Thruxton)/ 4 pot caliper/ Kurt's Rearsets /
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Old Hand
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Old Hand
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Those people you at Toyota, Honda and what have you, are getting what they have because the owners want to keep the Unions out......Do you really think that they pay what they do because they are nice guys?
I guess the Japanese have never figured out old Henry Fords tactics. He used to play the unions like a fiddle. Any time inventory started building up or there was a spike in the cost of materials, he would agrivate the unions into striking. That way, he could close the plant down for a short time, sure that most of the workers would be back and he got some tax breaks for it. If he had just laid a bunch of people off, he would have had to pay into the state unemployment fund and his best workers would have gotten jobs elsewhere.
Let's hope there's intelligent life somewhere in space 'cause it's buggar all down here. -- Monte Python
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Bar Shake
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Bar Shake
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OH MY GOSH.. there is going to be a shortage of Harleys...now instead of 4 of 5 bikes you see on the road being Hogs, the number will go down to only to 3 of every 5 bikes. 
"Catching a yellow jacket in your shirt at seventy miles per hour can double your vocabulary" Author unknown
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Bar Shake
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Bar Shake
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Like I said above, once your union shop, you have to stay a union shop.
Wrong. Employees can vote to disaffiliate if they want to. An employer has no choice in whether or not his employees are represented by a union.
The fact that the employees wish to remain a collective bargaining unit says plenty.
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Also, buyer beware if you are a "buy union" type guy who is looking for a Corolla, the majority of them are built at non-union Toyota in Cambridge, Ontario
That's explained on the site. The first digit of the serial number tells where it's made.
Contra todo mal, mezcal; contra todo bien, también
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Joined: Oct 2005
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Quote:
Quote:
Like I said above, once your union shop, you have to stay a union shop.
Wrong. Employees can vote to disaffiliate if they want to. An employer has no choice in whether or not his employees are represented by a union.
The fact that the employees wish to remain a collective bargaining unit says plenty.
Quote:
Also, buyer beware if you are a "buy union" type guy who is looking for a Corolla, the majority of them are built at non-union Toyota in Cambridge, Ontario
That's explained on the site. The first digit of the serial number tells where it's made.
bigbill, sorry I didn't intend to mean the are forced to remain union by law. Your right, they can return to non-union status. All they would have to do is call a vote.
In my reference to "having" to remain a union shop , my intention was to say; it would not be advantageous for workers to drop the union once it is already in place. Doing so would nearly ensure the company it would have no threat of the union returning. It would spell disaster for the workers.
I haven't heard of it happening many times, but both times I am aware of, the workers got run over by mgt after they voted to disaffiliate.
'05 America - Tec 2-1 (from a Thruxton)/ 4 pot caliper/ Kurt's Rearsets /
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Re: Harley plant still on strike
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Bar Shake
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Bar Shake
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bigbill, sorry I didn't intend to mean the are forced to remain union by law. Your right, they can return to non-union status. All they would have to do is call a vote.
Thanks for clearing that up.
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I haven't heard of it happening many times, but both times I am aware of, the workers got run over by mgt after they voted to disaffiliate.
I saw it recently at a place here. And yeah, the company screwed them good as soon as they decertified. But I guess they had it coming for believing that they would be better off 
Contra todo mal, mezcal; contra todo bien, también
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