Milwaukee-based motorcycle manufacturer
Harley-Davidson says jobs at the company’s United States facilities are not being impacted following its decision to temporarily shift some production work to Thailand.
An announcement released last week by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) first revealed that Harley-Davidson is moving production of its Sports Series and Pan America bikes to Thailand.
In 2017, Harley-Davidson
announced it was building an assembly facility in Thailand to provide better access to markets in southeast Asia and China.
“Harley-Davidson’s recent announcement to ship our work and jobs to Thailand is a kick in the teeth to American workers and a betrayal of the company’s legacy as an American icon," reads the statement from IAM. "In 2019, nearly 600 IAM members at Harley-Davidson and Syncreon in Kansas City lost their jobs when the company shuttered its facility, claiming that its Thailand plant would only serve the Asian and European markets."
IAM leadership said they believe Harley-Davidson has "backtracked on its promise.”
Representatives from the Tool and Die Makers Lodges 78, which represents a portion of Harley’s local union workforce, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
On Monday, a spokesperson for Harley-Davidson said relocating some production work is part of the company’s overall manufacturing optimization strategy.
“This does not have an impact on employment at U.S. facilities," said a spokesperson for the company.
"Harley-Davidson is to temporarily transition the production of its non-core Revolution Max powertrain equipped models (Pan America, Sportster S, Nightster), to its existing manufacturing facility in Thailand, for model year 25," according to a statement from the company. "This move optimizes production capacity for Grand American Touring and other core product segments such as Softail and Trike motorcycles at (the) York, Pennsylvania facility. Additionally, building on the DOE grant, as part of this move, we are investing an additional $9 million into our U.S. manufacturing facilities to focus and strengthen our U.S. manufacturing capabilities and capacity for our core products.”
The company did not disclose how much of the $9 million will be invested in Wisconsin.
Last month, Harley-Davidson was
named as the recipient of an $89 million federal Domestic Manufacturing Auto Conversion Grant. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Harley will expand its 650,000-square-foot facility in York, Pennsylvania for EV motorcycle manufacturing. The company will incorporate new paint and assembly equipment, re-train more than 1,300 employees and hire 125 new workers.
The manufacturing process will incorporate components from two additional Harley-Davidson facilities, including electric powertrain units from Menomonee Falls and fabricated and painted bodywork from Tomahawk, Wisconsin.
