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This will devastate our local economy: Harley-Davidson Inc. could shrink or shut down its York County plant as the company tries to slash costs. "We have determined that we need to make some major changes in our York operations to position them competitively," spokesman Bob Klein said today. The 230-acre Springettsbury Township plant is widely viewed as an anchor of the local economy. Milwaukee-based Harley has more than 2,000 employees here, though layoffs are eroding the numbers. The problems at the plant include excess capacity and inefficiencies, Klein said. Harley plans to compare the cost of moving the operation with the cost of revamping it, he said. He declined to discuss long-term demand projections underlying Harley's review. Preliminary recommendations are expected by the fall. Harley in 2003 expanded the plant with a roughly $145 million factory for its Softail line of bikes. One scenario for keeping the plant open is to move production of Touring model bikes out of a separate building that dates back to the World War II era and into the new building, Klein said. A three-year contract the company hammered out with its union amid a 2007 strike will expire in February. Asked whether contract concessions might save the plant, union leader Dave Bunnell said: "That's always a possibility. We are just getting ready to elect our negotiating committee, and 'til we do that we won't be in talks at all." Bunnell is president of Local 175 of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) and Aerospace Workers. Klein only said labor costs would be a factor in the company's calculations. The IAM and another Harley union, the United Steelworkers, are involved in the company's review of a potential move, Klein said. Harley is assuming a new facility would be unionized, he said. Local union leaders also are working with management on the cost study. No similar reviews are occurring at other Harley plants, Klein said. Harley had about 2,500 hourly workers and 320 salaried workers in York County as of May 1, Klein said. Bunnell said his union counted about 2,140 members as of the latest layoff. And looking ahead, it seems likely the York County plant is at least going to shrink, Bunnell said. "Yeah, that's kind of the feedback we're getting," he said. Harley-Davidson shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol HOG.
