Brent Burkey

Jul. 10, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Harley-Davidson has begun permanently laying off workers at its facility in Springettsbury Township, the company said.

Spokesman Bob Klein said in a phone message the workforce reductions -- part of a plan by Harley released in April to cut about 730 workers company-wide -- would continue through the summer.

"That layoff process has begun and will be ongoing in stages," Klein said.

Klein did not say how many workers would be laid off in each stage.

He said the permanent layoffs would be within the parameters previously discussed by the company. Nearly 300 union workers were scheduled to be cut from the Springettsbury plant.

Tom Boger, business representative with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 175, said Monday the union's role as layoffs go forward is to make sure they happen according to seniority.

The union's contract with Harley says layoffs have to happen by seniority, Boger said. He said the union would compile a list of those who get laid off and compare it to seniority records.

Boger said the union was not involved with Harley's effort to find early retirees to make up some of about 300 planned union job cuts for the Springettsbury Township facility.

Boger said the process was strictly between potential retirees and the company.

News of the reduction's start had began trickling out of the facility on Eden Road earlier this week.

Larry Bednar said on Monday that workers at the plant speak of themselves as "numbers from the bottom." He's been there about three years, so his number is about 350.

In other words, 350 people would need to lose their jobs before his would be cut.

Three years of experience is enough to worry Fred Wright Jr. His son has that much seniority on second shift and is a little worried about being on the bubble.

Worker Kerry Fritz, with a year and a half under his belt, said on Monday that he wasn't going to wait around.

Fritz believed he was going to be one of the workers being let go and said it wasn't right for a company to bring him on for a year and a half just to send him out the door.

"I just quit," Fritz said.

Michael Smeltzer, executive director of the Manufacturers' Association of South Central Pennsylvania, said the association will soon begin a worker-placement effort for employees displaced at Harley.

Smeltzer said the association will work with other area agencies to identify displaced workers and begin building a name-and-skills database to help funnel those workers to companies that are hiring.

Needs are often not immediate. Layoffs are emotionally taxing events, Smeltzer said.

"Many are just going to take some time off," he said.

bburkey@ydr.com; 771-2035

JOB PLACEMENT

The Manufacturers' Association of South Central Pennsylvania said Wednesday it is beginning a worker-placement effort to help displaced Harley-Davidson workers find new jobs. The association will work with area employment agencies to compile names and will begin assessing skills. In the meantime, if anyone needs job placement services immediately, he or she should contact the association at 843-3891.

THE FUTURE AS WE KNOW IT

Harley-Davidson workers in Springettsbury Township are on a roller coaster of temporary layoffs, permanent layoffs, early retirements and a scheduled shutdown for line changes.

The current schedule of when and why some Harley workers will not go to work on certain days, or for good, is expected to unfold over the next few weeks and months as the following:

1. Temporary layoffs: Some workers found out last week they would be laid off starting Monday as part of a temporary layoff.

Workers have said the layoff varies from one area of the plant to another, with some workers expecting to work next week and some not.

Harley said earlier this year temporary layoffs were on the table as a way to slow production.

Harley-Davidson executives have said they worry that if they make too many motorcycles, the motorcycles will not sell and will build up on showroom floors. The buildup could damage the brand.

2. Summer shutdown: Harley-

Davidson scheduled earlier this year a shutdown for lines at the Springettsbury Township plant for June 30 through July 3 (the week ends with the July 4 holiday) to make changes on lines to make new

motorcycles.

Designs have changed for the coming model year, and machines need to be changed accordingly.

3. Early retirement: Harley said in April it wants to cut 730 jobs from its company-wide workforce, including about 370 hourly production workers.

Springettsbury Township is bearing the brunt, with Harley eyeing to cut about 80 percent of the number, or about 300 hourly workers, from the facility.

Harley wants to cut as close to the 300 people from the workforce as possible by finding volunteers to retire early and take a company retirement package.

The company has not disclosed the package, and a timetable is not set.

4. Permanent job cuts: If or when Harley cannot find 300 volunteer retirees, the company is slated to permanently cut the workforce according to the terms of a union contract.

The contract says the last union worker hired at the plant would be the first to get cut under such a workforce reduction. A timetable for these reductions is also not set.

HARLEY FACTS

--- Harley-Davidson's Springettsbury Township plant is its largest manufacturing facility with about 3,200 employees.

--- Harley has six other manufacturing facilities, in East Troy, Wis.; Menomonee Falls, Wis.; Tomahawk, Wis.; Wauwatosa, Wis.; Kansas City, Mo.; and Manaus, Brazil.

--- About 9,000 people work for Harley worldwide.

--- There are more than 970 independent Harley-Davidson dealers in Asia and the Pacific area, Canada, Europe, Latin America, South America and the United States.

TIMELINE

April 17: Harley-Davidson says it plans to cut 370 production workers and 360 nonproduction workers because of sagging sales of its motorcycles in the United States. The company says about 80 percent of the production workers, or nearly 300 employees, will be cut from the payroll in Springettsbury Township. Harley says it wants to make as many cuts as possible through retirements and begins cobbling together an early retirement package.

April 22: Harley-Davidson files with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it expects to spend $20 million to $25 million in severance benefits in the second quarter of 2008, which ends June 30. Harley would not say how it planned to spend the money.

April 26: Harley-Davidson decides to give its shareholders a 10 percent bump in dividend payments. An independent analyst said the move is most likely to keep shareholders happy at a time of instability for Harley.

CONTACT US

Are you or someone you know going to be permanently laid off from Harley-Davidson in Springettsbury Township? If so, we want to hear from you. Please contact business reporter Brent Burkey at 771-2035 or bburkey@ydr.com.

RELATED STORIES

Union awaits input (April 20)

Slow sales force a Harley-Davidson job slaughter (April 18)

ON THE BLOG

Harley newsy in York: 3 strikes, 3 presidential visits, 300 jobs down. Read more on the York Town Square blog.

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