Once again, the Trump administration does not have to be competent for its chaos-monkey nature to wind up doing enormous damage: Gabe Gutierrez and Annie Rose Ramos: Harley-Davidson workers stunned by plant closure after tax cut: "Tim Primeaux has worked at the Harley-Davidson plant in Kansas City, Missouri, for 17 years. He was sure he was going to retire from the company. That all changed when Harley-Davidson told its 800 employees in January that the plant will be closing next year. Operations will be shifted to the motorcycle manufacturer's facility in York, Pennsylvania...
...“We did everything Harley-Davidson asked us to do,” said Primeaux, a welder. “To have it all blow up in your face is kind of disappointing.” Days later, Harley-Davidson announced a dividend increase and a stock buyback plan to reward shareholders, repurchasing 15 million of its shares, valued at nearly $700 million.... House Speaker Paul Ryan visited a Harley plant in Wisconsin in September and said, “Tax reform can put American manufacturers and American companies like Harley-Davidson on a much better footing to compete in the global economy and keep jobs in America.” Many Harley-Davidson workers wondered if the tax cut would trickle down to help employees....
The company calls the closing of the Kansas City plant a tough decision but says domestic sales are down and it needed to “address the excess capacity in the U.S.”... Rick Pence, who started working for Harley-Davidson more than 21 years ago, recalls his elation at landing the job. “When I got hired, I felt like I won the lottery,” said Pence. Primeaux said that if he could deliver a message to Harley CEO Matthew Levatich, it would be to keep the factory in Kansas City not for him but for his three girls. “If my girls want to work there it’s a good place to work,” said Primeaux, adding that the plant closure has not affected his support for President Donald Trump. “I blame the company more than I blame the president.” “We gotta accept it," said Pence, who turns 60 next year. “It’s truly hard”...
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