I would remove ANY fat.. don't read too much into my post lol

Any business that wants to remain in the black should trim back... upper management are often comped via stock options...and other perks that line worker don't have access to... if my managers don't do their jobs and fail in meeting so called profit margins.. then they are gone! You seem to have forgotten that a business is made profitable by the quality of the worker ... not some stuffed shirt sitting in a office.

 

What it means is the company is trying to implement a slash & burn labor model by turning it's work force into part time employees instead of the 40hr work week full time that is standard now meaning they can cut out most benefits including health insurance and any kind retirement plan because you aren't meeting 40 hr requirements anymore . Most state and fed level labor laws and protections are written based on a 40hr work week , by cutting down workers to 3 days but pulling 10 or 12 hr shifts and then juggling shifts by rotating day's to nights every few weeks plus weekdays to weekends working the company is basically running almost 24-7 with 4 shifts and reduced numbers of employees . Seen this going on a few places already and the poor shmuck doing the job is dragging *** tired all the time and has no life because of the constant flip flopping , it destroy's marriages and families . They tried 3 times to pull this off where I worked .

Where unions are getting hammered is it's either comply with what we want or we close the doors and go somewhere else , that the company threat being held over everyone's head today .

 

Don't know ***** about dairy farming ... beef cattle? Yes, I do know a thing or 6 about the cattle industry. As for feed? I grow about 95% of what my stock requires ... what I don't grow I buy (keeping others employed)

My employees? Most of them have been working for me over 10 years (since I inherited this farm) Times have been tough but we muddle tru it... no laying off etc:

I have not and will not take any of the federal/state grants etc available for agriculture.

I hire a combine crew out of Kansas to harvest my feed & cotton crops .. cheaper that way and keeps others employed ( no sense in spending 300K on a combine that I use 1 month a year)

Its been about 5 years since I've bought a new tractor and I paid cash for that one..

I am by no means wealthy... comfortable & able to pay my bills and have a little $$ leftover to stash away

Yes, I know what it takes to make a business run at a profit ! If upper management cannot get a business to run at a profit..then it should be perfectly clear.... get rid of those who don't perform to expectations!!

The best move I ever made was to make one of my farm hands my farm manager... guy has a GED and has turned this farm from bleeding red to making a profit for the past 9 years!

I fired the previous manager! You know... the guy who could read spreadsheets, forecasts .. a very high dollar education but who failed in every aspect of his job! (I know.. you would have kept the turd apparently)

I know from first hand experience what it takes to run a business.. farm or any industry ..... Pay attention to the market!!! Listen to your employees !! They know what makes things tick and if they don't.. you run them off!

Don't just rely on some overpaid, stuffed shirt with a impressive job title LOL

 

WalMart comes to mind when I read this ...

 

Could be we're just a bit smarter than you for not wanting to throw money at something that is grossly inflated in price and nothing but a status symbol ? Chew on that a bit , if a new bike rolls around that isn't a clone of something I've already done 10 or 15 yrs ago I'd consider it but don't see it happening . I like setting the trends not following them myself and spending my cash on quality of life not the must have status toys , your new bike which most are going to be paying on for a long time can't do a damn thing my old one can't and mine looks better doing it . Can you say BAHHHHHHH ?

 

I'm making my FX look like an older one. There's a certain nostalgia about the older Harleys and I don't see why anyone would pick on someone for riding one. In my personal opinion, it shows more loyalty to the product then going out and buying a brand new emissions choked burn off yer leg 103.

 

Again, so what if upper management is compensated for their work? They have achieved success in their career and have now been given great responsibilities for their decision-making ability. If that includes perks as an incentive to keep them with the company, then so be it.

Line workers are easier to layoff than heads because of availability. Pay cuts across all lines sounds "fair", but you now create an incentive for upper management to look elsewhere for employment. Upper management turnover can create havoc on any business and only becomes worse the larger the business becomes.

"So called" profit margins aren't fiction; they drive business. If a business doesn't make a profit, why is it in business in the first place?

And you seem to have forgotten that the "stuffed shirt" is holding the great responsibility of creating an environment that ensures the success of the worker. The street runs both ways. Bad workers can punish quality and increase costs, just as bad bosses can abuse power or make unethical decisions. Successful businesses are those made of good people from top to bottom.

 

From what you said, you know the value of quality workers underneath you. Therefore you do what it takes to keep them around. Imagine that concept at the scale of company as big as HD, where you were the CEO and your workers are division heads. Same concept.

It's a different story if someone isn't actually doing there job, regardless of job title or position. If they suck, they should be fired - end of story.

 

What's really funny , my 40 yr old bike outperforms those . Loyalty is strange thing anymore who really has it , the guys who got into this lifestyle from the beginning at a young age fell in love with all aspects including old bikes needing some love and attention , or the later in life middle age crazies who have discovered it and jumped the gotta have the newest and shiniest toys to show off bandwagon ? We all like the bike for different reasons so who's to say .

The new toy ego boys who wanna try and say something about that poor old shovelhead always come away on the losing end , seems to be an endless supply of them out there .

 

I would buy a new bike if there was a new Big Twin Harley as well built as mine was.

There isn't one out there. Not even close, sadly.

Everything has been going downhill since 2003, except the price of course. ( And maybe the CEO's compensation!)