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[jcd520]

remember they are union and just recently struck for more money. Unions may have been a good idea to start with but they sure suck now! If we only paid them more money they would put the right parts on ----------yeah, right!

[2010SSRS]

Do not complain.  You just save yourself approximately $400 

almost $900 for the matching fully adjustable ones on mine......luckily the dealership threw them in for free, but the receipt shows almost $900

[grc]

Could it be that the workers at the factory are making a statement to Harley by putting the wrong parts on our CVO's ?  I'm sure they know that this site is being looked at by Harley/Dealers.  IE. Jams too much on us and this will happen? I can't believe that they don't know or understand that every bike coming down the line is important to assemble correctly. Cvo are Top of the Line items and in my belief the quickest way of getting higher ups attention.

Could be.  Or it could be that the aces running the place just throw anybody with arms and legs on any job after 2 minutes of training and go sit back down in the office to play games on the computer.  I've seen both situations over the years in the auto industry, and I'm certain it isn't much different at Harley from things I've heard.

One of the big concessions that Harley won in the latest contracts was the ability to use "temporary" workers.  That tends to be folks who get paid much less and get no benefits, and it's an idea they borrowed from the auto companies.  If you think quality sucks now, with unhappy regular employees who have had their benefits reduced and their workloads increased, just wait until they ramp up production at some later date by adding temps.  Then you will get to see what I saw for the last 5-10 years of my career, people busting their butts for peanuts right next to other people making full wages and benefits, all doing the same job.  Talk about problems in the workforce; you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Never forget, it's managements job to errorproof the system.  Some might call it poky-oke, old timer's like me call it idiot proofing, but it all boils down to designing the process to eliminate the possibility of mistakes.  In real life it will never be perfect, but it can be much better than what Harley passes off as a production system.  They didn't do a very good job before all the labor unrest, so I don't think you can just lay off all these recent errors on disgruntled workers.


Jerry

[grc]

remember they are union and just recently struck for more money. Unions may have been a good idea to start with but they sure suck now! If we only paid them more money they would put the right parts on ----------yeah, right!

Actually, they didn't strike for more money.  The folks making all the demands were the suits from corporate who still get the big bucks and perks.  The hourly workforce got reduced benefits, elimination of wage increases and benefits that were already agreed to in previous contracts, changed work rules, etc.  While it's very likely that many of these changes were needed, there is always more than one way to achieve an objective.  Bending folks over a barrel and shoving something where the sun don't shine while threatening their livelihood is not a method that leads to harmony in the workplace.  Perhaps if management had been worth a tinker's damn over the past 20 years, they wouldn't have reached the point where all these major changes were necessary.

BTW, I don't belong to a union, and haven't since 1969.  Just because one is a member of management, however, doesn't mean one shouldn't try to see things from both sides.  Blaming everything on unions and hourly workers is about as smart as blaming teachers, firefighters, and police for the inability of states to meet their budgetary obligations.  The folks making the big bucks to make the big decisions and run the show have done a very poor job over the past decade or two, and now everyone wants to blame the little guys for the fallout.  BS!


Jerry