Harley-Davidson workers ratify pact

HARRISBURG (AP) — Unionized workers at a Harley-Davidson plant in York, Pa., have approved a contract that is designed to keep the plant there.

Workers ratified a seven-year contract Wednesday that many view as full of concessions, including wage freezes and reductions in vacation days.

Though union officials believe the contract’s cost savings will compel Harley-Davidson to stay, the company nevertheless plans to cut the 1,950-member work force in half in the coming years.

Milwaukee-based Harley- Davidson says the company’s board plans to decide soon on the plant’s fate.

The company has said the plant is too inefficient and costly in light of steep sales declines and has threatened to move it to Kentucky.

That prompted Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell to promise millions in incentives to keep the plant in the state.