Post by Crossbones Dennis on Mar 2, 2011 8:57:31 GMT -6
Workers at Harley-Davidson's Kansas City, Mo., vehicle operations plant voted today to ratify a new seven-year labor agreement that looks much like recent deals at the company's other American plants.
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.
Rollout of the Harley-Davidson Operating System -- a new, standardized production operating system being introduced across all company production facilities -- will begin with the new contract, while the compensation and benefits component generally takes effect starting in August 2012, after the current contract was originally set to expire.
Workers in Kansas City agreed to terms similar to what unions approved last year in Milwaukee, Wisc., and in 2009 in York, Penn. The Kansas City contract includes greater use of flexible workers – union employees who work as required, depending on seasonal and other volume needs and to provide coverage for vacations and other absences.
Under the new deal, the Motor Co. expects to have about 540 full-time hourly unionized employees at the Kansas City facility, down from about 685 today. The company also expects its Kansas City production workforce to include about 145 flexible positions.
The changes at Kansas City are expected to generate annual operating savings of about $15 million in 2013, the first full year in which the agreement is fully implemented. The Company expects to incur about $15 million in additional restructuring charges through 2012 related to the changes at Kansas City.
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.
Rollout of the Harley-Davidson Operating System -- a new, standardized production operating system being introduced across all company production facilities -- will begin with the new contract, while the compensation and benefits component generally takes effect starting in August 2012, after the current contract was originally set to expire.
Workers in Kansas City agreed to terms similar to what unions approved last year in Milwaukee, Wisc., and in 2009 in York, Penn. The Kansas City contract includes greater use of flexible workers – union employees who work as required, depending on seasonal and other volume needs and to provide coverage for vacations and other absences.
Under the new deal, the Motor Co. expects to have about 540 full-time hourly unionized employees at the Kansas City facility, down from about 685 today. The company also expects its Kansas City production workforce to include about 145 flexible positions.
The changes at Kansas City are expected to generate annual operating savings of about $15 million in 2013, the first full year in which the agreement is fully implemented. The Company expects to incur about $15 million in additional restructuring charges through 2012 related to the changes at Kansas City.