To the editor:

Culture is more than just a word to those who call Airstream home. At the core of our DNA is a culture of respect and support for the almost 1,000 associates who have chosen to join us in building the world’s most iconic recreational vehicles.

Recent coverage in this newspaper regarding a pending lawsuit has questioned the positive culture at Airstream that we’ve thoughtfully created since 1952. I’d like to address that here.

As part of migrating to a new payroll processing system in December of 2017, Airstream independently discovered an error in how time-and-a-half overtime wages were calculated for our associates. While the calculation included base pay for the overtime hourly rate calculation, it unintentionally did not include certain performance and attendance bonuses when calculating how much overtime pay was owed. We have worked swiftly to correct this error.

In April, after months of recalculating back pay for each associate week-by-week, Airstream began issuing correction checks to current and former associates, dating back to Jan. 1, 2016. The accurate compensation of our associates is paramount, and we now have a new payroll system in place to help ensure this does not happen again. And while we feel that we have rectified the error, Airstream respects the right of any eligible associate to join the pending lawsuit.

As we move forward, I look forward to objective and accurate coverage of this issue in the Sidney Daily News.

Company culture will continue to drive what we do and how we operate. It’s one of the reasons we have the outstanding and loyal workforce that we have, and why we remain an employer of choice in Shelby County.

Sincerely,

Bob Wheeler

President and CEO

Airstream, Inc.

Jackson Center