Evergreen faces strike threat
Evergreen deployed its 747-100 firefighter last month to help extinguish fires in Israel. The aircraft can carry 20,000 gallons of water or fire retardant ( Photo: Rob Finlayson )
Evergreen International Airlines' (EIA) flight crew has voted overwhelmingly to support a strike if no agreement is reached with company management. Both sides have been negotiating since 2005. The 218 EIA crewmembers are represented by the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA).
“This vote serves as notice to Evergreen management that we are united and resolved to get an industry-standard contract now,” said William Fink, chairman of the Evergreen chapter of ALPA. “We do not want a strike, we want a contract, but we are ready to do what it takes for an acceptable agreement. The time has passed to get this done, and the ball is now in management’s court.”
Both sides are expected to renew negotiations in February and remain under the jurisdiction of the U.S. National Mediation Board (NMB). A strike could begin only after the NMB releases the parties into "economic self-help" after a 30-day cooling-off period.
“The crewmembers are working under the current collective bargaining agreement, which has been in place since 1999. It is just unacceptable to continue down this path after more than 10 years without improvements in some areas of working conditions, six years without a pay raise, and no per diem increase since the late ’90s,” added Fink.
