Release #13.EIA2
December 6, 2013

Evergreen Crewmembers Still in the Dark on Fate of Their Airline
ALPA Continues to Support Members during Period of Uncertainty

MCMINNVILLE, Ore.—The crewmembers of Evergreen International Airlines (EIA), represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), continue to wait for the company’s next move since it announced to employees in November that the airline would cease operations and flew its last flight on November 29 into Travis Air Force Base. Notices of layoffs went out to remaining EIA employees at the end of November, but Evergreen management put out contradicting statements that the airline would not be closing its doors. The airline’s management team had plans to meet with lienholders on December 3 to determine the company’s future, but a decision on the fate of the airline is still unknown.

“As far as the union knows, all of the planes have been parked and the lights are out at headquarters in McMinnville,” said Capt. James Touchette, chairman of Evergreen’s Master Executive Council (MEC) at ALPA.

News reports also verified that the state of Oregon was notified of mass layoffs and the airline’s closure. This news was later refuted by the airline’s senior executives stating that the “executive team continues to work diligently to look for longer term solutions to the current issues that cause interruptions to our operations” and that rumors in the media of EIA ceasing operations were false.

The crewmembers’ last paychecks received on December 5 lacked vacation payouts, which management stated previously to them would be paid. ALPA has filed a grievance on this issue among other matters. The union will continue to represent the EIA crewmembers pursuing their grievances as well as their other representational needs.

“We are doing our best under these circumstances that we possibly can to get the crewmembers all of the money owed to them by the last payroll,” stated Touchette. “It is what the loyal members who met retirement requirements or resigned according to the contract guidelines and flew the flights management requested them to fly after announcing operations would cease deserve,” stated Touchette.

Since the announcement of the shutdown, the MEC remains in steady contact with ALPA staff from Representation, Legal, Communications, Retirement & Insurance and Membership Benefits, along with Association officers to assist the affected EIA ALPA members.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union, representing nearly 50,000 pilots at 32 airlines in the United States and Canada, including pilots and flight engineers at Evergreen. Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org.

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CONTACTS:
Tawnya Burket, ALPA Communications, 724-622-6738/Tawnya.Burket@alpa.org
Capt. James Touchette, EIA MEC Chairman, 618-401-1284