YORK, Pa. — The assembly line at Harley-Davidson's largest manufacturing plant remained idle yesterday as nearly 2,800 union workers walked off the job, saying they would strike for as long as it took to win a better contract.

Small groups of workers began quietly picketing each entrance of the York facility after midnight, two days after the union overwhelmingly voted down the company's contract proposal.

"There's no sense in doing this if we're not going to stick together," said Nevin Bechtel, 59, who works in the painting department. "If we regress now, we've lost everything we're struggling for, and the company will think they've won."

More than 50 workers gathered as the strike began, said Tom Boger, a union representative for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 175. Fifty members at a time were scheduled to picket around the clock in three-hour shifts.

The company installed cement barricades to block access to all gates, even empty parking lots, Boger said.

The union voted Wednesday to authorize a strike after rejecting the company's contract offer, which would have reduced pay rates for new hires, required employees to pay part of their health insurance premiums and forced pension concessions. In anticipation of the walkout, the company shut down production at the plant Thursday.

Harley-Davidson Inc. spokes-man Bob Klein did not return telephone messages seeking comment yesterday but said in an outgoing voicemail message that the company would not comment beyond a statement it issued Thursday. The statement announced the plant closing and expressed disappointment with the union vote.

The company said its proposal was intended "to help manage future costs that could be detrimental to our business over the long term."

But union members said they felt management's proposal would be a backward step.

"If they had kept the contract the way it is, everyone would have been fine with it," said Lucey Mrozinski, 43, a welding machine operator on the picket line.

Bechtel said the proposed two-tier wage system would hurt morale.

"We'll still keep building first-rate bikes, but when the second-rate people take over, what are we going to build then? Second-rate bikes," he said.

Russell Aldinger, 46, a mechanical assembler who said he had worked at the plant for 10 years, said he thought the company could afford to make a better offer.

"This company is very profitable, and for us to have to take concessions when we were earning the money that we were ... I feel it's ridiculous," he said.

Last month, Harley-Davidson said it posted strong international sales, which helped drive its fourth-quarter profit up 9.7 percent, but its U.S. sales were flat.

In its statement Thursday, the company said it was suspending production of the company's Touring and Softail motorcycles, a decision that was affecting other businesses that help supply motorcycle parts.

Lynn Stambaugh, owner of Stambaugh Metals in Hanover, said yesterday that her company has laid off 35 of its 44 employees. The company polishes parts for the Harley factory such as handlebars and engine guards made by another local company, Leonhardt Manufacturing.

"It's going to hurt us if (the strike) lasts longer than a week or two," Stambaugh said. "We're hanging in there."

Leonhardt President and CEO Bob Jacobs said 20 of his 124 employees took voluntary layoffs after Harley-Davidson announced the shutdown, and he was scrambling to find other work orders and avoid further layoffs.

"It's very disappointing. It has far-reaching consequences," Jacobs said.

The company said its proposal included annual wage increases of 4 percent over three years. But part of the increase depended on the union's agreeing to contribute toward health insurance coverage; unionized employees currently pay no premium. It also would have doubled the company's 401(k) retirement plan contributions.

The facility employs more than 3,200 union and nonunion workers.