Those who accuse Europeans of being naive in commercial matters will not be able to reproach them with lack of political sense : by threatening to impose tariffs on imported motorcycles Harley Davidson, the european Commission has set a maximum of damage policies in the camp Trump, who has made this company the emblem of the return of America’s industrial.
Barely elected, Donald Trump had received the officers and employees of the company at the White House. He was seen in February 2017 flanked by his vice-president Mike Pence, inspect the beautiful machines parked in front of the White House, both engoncés in their winter coat, while the company’s CEO Matt Levatich had donned the leather jacket which suits the circumstances. The president was liable vis-à-vis the workers of Harley-Davidson in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, these States of the “ring of rust” that have shifted in his favor to the general surprise, ensuring a victory in November 2016.
Since then, everything has derailed. Sales of Harley-Davidson fell 7.9% in 2017 241 500 copies, and should fall between 231 000 and 236 000 in 2018. The share has lost 15 % since the reception at the White House while the Stock market was gaining 20 %. And it had to be cut in the workforce. Unionized since 1937, taken over by its executives in 1981, the company plays a lot of co-operation with the workers : “Built by all of us, for all of us,” proclaims the sign at the exit of the factory in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-which manufactures the engines. In reality, the alliance is a formal union-management was broken in September 2017, after the announcement of layoffs. Then came the shock of Tuesday 30 January 2018.
Ambiance execrable in the factory of Kansas City
In the morning, the factory workers in Kansas City were invited to three meetings : up to 5 hours for night shift outbound, 6 hours for the rising of the…
