Union members have concerns about product as Harley-Davidson announces some production will move to Thailand
Employees and customers say they're concerned about the quality of the product going forward.
By Duaa Israr
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MENOMONEE FALLS, Wisconsin (WDJT) — Harley-Davidson recently announced it is moving some of its production to its plant in Thailand, but employees and customers say they’re concerned about the quality of the product going forward.
There’s a sense of pride behind the words “made in the USA.” Andrew Worby says that’s what Harley-Davidson is known for.
“The customers have an expectation of American icons,” said Worby, who serves as the president of United Steelworkers Local 2-209. “We have a hometown rally here in Milwaukee where we bring the customers in and have them walk through the factories and tell them that the products are made here.”
Now, Worby says he’s not too sure.
“At the time period, the plant manager and management read an email to the workforce of this move,” said Worby.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Harley-Davidson confirmed the company will temporarily have three of its models produced overseas. The company says the “non-core Revolution Max powertrain equipped models (Pan America, Sportster S, Nightster)” will move to its manufacturing facility in Thailand, for model year 25.
The company says its also investing an additional $9 million at its U.S. facilities as part of the move.
“This is the first time that we’ve actually had work from the U.S. facilities get moved specifically to there,” said Worby.
According to the company, this move will not impact workers in the U.S., but Worby disagrees.
“A lot of the union workers, or salaried workers, we ride too. We’re the customers and to have the news come out about the product, we didn’t feel it was very positive at all,” said Worby.
He says employees feel uncertain about what’s next.
“To the best of my knowledge, there will not be jobs lost due to this product moving to Thailand, but that’s today. I can’t predict the future,” said Worby.
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