Harley-Davidson Upsets Union Workers With Production Move to Thailand

An Iconic American brand, Harley-Davidson is taking steps to expand its motorcycle production abroad after confirming it will produce several of its models in Thailand. But what that has done is leave union workers in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania furious as a result.

Americans love America! I don’t think that’s up for debate. But what is up for debate, in their minds at least, is whether Harley should be producing bikes outside the country. That’s exactly what will happen as the Pan America Adventure bike and the Sportster, Nightster and Nightster Special - all from the brand’s sport series will be moved to Thailand for production.

Harley-Davidson once told the world it would never make bikes outside the US, so as you can imagine, this latest update has made union workers furious. In no mind to mince his words about Harley-Davidson changing their tune, Brian Bryant, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said in a statement: “Harley-Davidson has backtracked on that promise, planning to manufacture these bikes abroad and send them to the U.S. for American consumers."

Bryant took his disappointment at the news further by saying: “Harley-Davidson’s 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. 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."

Harley-Davidson has confirmed the change but did not agree with the views made by the union. The American company said: "This does not have an impact on employment at U.S. facilities," the company stated.

Harley-Davidson’s Thailand factory was built in 2018, and although this move has upset union workers in the US, it has been described as a temporary move. A statement from the company said: "As part of our overall manufacturing optimisation strategy, 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 2025."

Building on an $89m Dollar Energy grant as part their move, Harley-Davidson also confirmed it’s investing $9m dollars into its manufacturing facility in the US to strengthen its capacity for ‘core products’.

But despite Harley-Davidson attempting to satisfy its American workers, Bryant added: “The IAM will employ every resource at our disposal to fight this outrageous move. Harley-Davidson needs to return to the drawing board and develop a solution that keeps the production of the Sport Series and Pan America bikes where they belong - in the United States." 

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