Release #10.EIA3
August 16, 2010

Evergreen International Airlines Crewmembers Reject New Deal with Management

MCMINNVILLE – Evergreen International Airlines (EIA) crewmembers, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), have rejected a tentative collective bargaining agreement with management. Ninety-two percent of EIA crewmembers participated in the ratification process. Ninety-six percent of voting members cast ballots against accepting the tentative agreement.

ALPA and management negotiated for two-and-a-half years. Prior to the Evergreen crewmembers joining ALPA in 2007, negotiations dragged on for more than three years between the crewmembers’ independent union, The Aviators Group, and management. Mediated talks began in 2005 under the supervision of the National Mediation Board (NMB). The tentative agreement was reached in April 2010.

The tentative agreement was largely a renewal of the current collective bargaining agreement, which has been in place since 1999. The crewmembers concluded that the tentative agreement contract is not acceptable after more than 10 years of no improvements in pay or working conditions.

“The crewmembers could not get past the fact that they are working under 1999 wages and work rules and would have continued to do so for another two years under the rejected tentative agreement,” said William Fink, MEC chairman of the Evergreen pilot group. “We are aware that the holding company is struggling to meet substantial debt obligations, but are convinced that the airline can afford reasonable improvements in wages and working conditions for its employees.”

The parties now remain under the jurisdiction of the NMB, which will determine future measures for processing this case.

ALPA is the bargaining representative for the 227 pilots and flight engineers in service for EIA. Founded in 1931, ALPA represents 53,000 pilots at 38 airlines in the United States and Canada.

Visit the ALPA website at http://www.alpa.org.

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ALPA Contacts:
Professional Flight Engineer William Fink, MEC Chairman—(402) 206-7166
Captain Dean Kidd, MEC Communications Committee Chairman—(208) 340-4537
Tawnya Burket, ALPA Communications—(724) 622-6738