Harley’s initial proposal had some of the new positions starting in the $10-$12 an hour range. The show of commitment was Harley moving off that to an $18.75 minimum starting wage for the new positions. A year after hire, the company says, those new workers will be making $20 an hour. Of course the company could have done better, but it was not an insulting offer, and showed at least some good faith. It was good enough, as workers overwhelmingly approved the deal on Tuesday.

Does it hurt the union in future bargaining? You bet. The membership of Local 2-209 made a big sacrifice to keep those jobs in Milwaukee, where we can’t afford to lose $20 an hour jobs. Shame on Harley for padding their pockets at the expense of their workers, who should be recognized for caring more about Milwaukee than their employer.

Conservatives like to accuse unions of being unyielding and handcuffing companies in their markets. Local 2-209 members found themselves over a barrel and made the best of a bad situation for the benefit of hundreds of families, people who don’t work at Harley yet, people who they have never met. And yes, for the benefit of their employer’s bottom line. That’s union commitment to a community and to an employer, one that wouldn’t have been possible without years of trust built into the union-employer relationship.

Comparing Harley to Wal-mart is the kind of comment that’ll get you into a bar fight. The state suing Wal-mart to force the company to reimburse for BadgerCare is a just a swell idea. Do you think JB Van Hollen will give it a go?

The only winners here are the stockholders–individuals, pension funds, mutual funds, etc…The big losers are Harley workers at other plants who will re-negociate their contracts after the Milwaukee concessions. But I shouldn’t have to point this out to a liberal.