Yet the seven-year employee at Harley-Davidson joined more than 1,500 union colleagues who voted in favor of a new contract Wednesday.

It's a contract company officials say will help secure the plant's place in York County. But it also calls for deep cuts in the union workforce, perhaps down to as few of 1,000. The plant now has about 1,900 union workers.

"I'm 30 from the door," Carter said, referring to her rank in seniority among remaining union workers.

Carter, 44, of Glen Rock, said her husband has been unemployed since July. She said they've downsized their lives, gave back a vehicle and filed bankruptcy.

"Our whole life is changing," Carter said. "And it's not like we're living beyond our means. It's that we don't have the means to live."

Still, she said she cast a "yes" vote at the York Expo Center Wednesday, hoping the motorcycle plant would remain along with the revenue it brings the region in terms of tourism and to the businesses that are dependent on the company.

Carter was among hundreds of union employees asked to vote on a contract that spells out the possible downsizing of the plant if Harley stays in York.

The vote took about two hours and relieved months of anxiety stemming from contract talks, threat of plant closure and financial insecurity that Russell Fisher said has become the norm for Harley workers.

Fisher, 54, voted against the contract "on principle." The New Oxford resident will likely be among the 700 to 800 union production workers who remain due to 19 years on the job.

For now, he's an inspector, but says it's anyone's guess what his job might be after restructuring. That depends on Harley's board of directors, which in coming days will vote whether to accept the contract and move forward with a $90 million plant renovation.

Fisher says the company did no more than bribe employees with the buyout bonus.

"It's nothing more than corporate greed," Fisher said from a sidewalk fronting the arena. "Do you think (company executives) care anything about the working class? They don't."

Keith Laughman, 48, says he approved the contract, even though it could cost him his job.

"I need a job and I have a job for now," he said. "I would be right on the bubble (of people who will be laid off)."

Laughman has 15 years at Harley; his seniority number is 934. That means if the company keeps 700 people, the minimum it has proposed, 234 people would have to retire or leave the company for his job to be safe.

Joe Sinclair, put in 14 years at the plant and like many says he's not happy with the contract but needs his job. Like other workers, he approved the contract because it likely means the company won't relocate.

"There are no jobs out there," he said. "I need my job."