Wisconsin lawmakers scramble after HD announcement

[Crossbones Dennis]

News that Harley-Davidson is considering a move from its ancestral home in Wisconsin to save on manufacturing costs has prompted a lot of attention from public officials, but H-D is saying it doesn’t want the matter “politicized.”

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, also a candidate or governor, told the press he and his staff had talked to senior Harley executives, contacted Harley union leaders and discussed the issue with outgoing Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and his aides.

H-D brass " have made it clear to us that they do not want this issue politicized," Barrett told reporters, adding that tax incentives were neither requested nor discussed.

H-D management wants to work quietly with labor unions, so Barrett called on both sides to work together to keep the plants open.

In a separate interview, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker partly agreed, saying, "Having talked with officials, it is pretty clear what they need right now is support, public support, so they can work on some of their internal costs.

After a bill signing in Fitchburg, Doyle told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the state is in talks with Harley and that the Legislature recently approved new tax credits he could deploy if necessary.

[Crossbones Dennis]

H-D to Wisconsin labor: cut costs or we'll move

Harley-Davidson is threatening to leave its Wisconsin home unless it can win enough labor concessions to close a $54 million gap.

H-D brass said Thursday that significant "cost gaps" must be bridged at the plants in Menomonee Falls and Tomahawk. They employ more than 1,400 people combined.

Management told employees that Harley wants to slash $54 million a year in manufacturing costs.

"Our preference is to keep the production operations in Wisconsin, but as part of due diligence we will also explore alternate U.S. sites" if necessary, company spokesman Bob Klein told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

In Wisconsin, "We are looking at labor costs and operational flexibility as some of the key areas where cost gaps exist," Klein said.

The company won concessions from unions at its York, Penn., facility last year after threatening to move those operations to Kentucky. The same areas – scheduling flexibility and labor costs – in the crosshairs now in Wisconsin.

H-D says it will decide by fall whether to stay or move.

Ironically, the maneuver comes just two weeks after the Wisconsin state Assembly voted to name Harley-Davidson the official motorcycle of Wisconsin. Maybe the state Senate was onto something when it tabled the measure.