Unpaid Eclipse employees worry about future

'I'm a little angry. I'm a little disappointed. Everything that they say I don't trust anymore.'...  More »

'I'm a little angry. I'm a little disappointed. Everything that they say I don't trust anymore.''what we've got now is a bunch of smoke blown up our butt and nothing that's been answered directly' IT'S A STORY THAT YOU SAW FIRST ON EYEWITNESS NEWS FOUR. FRUSTRATION -- AS ECLIPSE AVIATION WORKERS LEARN THEY WON'T BE PAID FOR THEIR LAST TWO WEEKS WORTH OF WORK. THAT'S OUR TOP STORY. HUNDREDS OF WORKERS ARE QUESTIONING THEIR FUTURE-- AFTER ONE OF ALBUQUERQUE'S BIGGEST EMPLOYERS SAYS IT CAN'T MAKE PAYROLL. THE CITY SAYS IT WILL BE QUITE A HIT TO ALBUQUERQUE'S ECONOMY IF ECLIPSE CAN'T RECOVER FROM ITS FINANCIAL PROBLEMS. VALERIE CASTRO IS LIVE IN THE NEWSROOM WITH THE DETAILS. EMPLOYEES LEFT ECLIPSE HEADQUARTERS TODAY VERY UPSET, ANGRY AND WONDERING HOW MUCH LONGER THEIR JOBS WILL LAST AFTER THE COMPANY TOLD THEM IT CAN'T AFFORD TO PAY THEM ON TIME. I feel right now that I've been betrayed by the entire company. HUNDREDS OF EMPLOYEES WENT HOME AFTER HEARING THE NEWS AT A MORNING MEETING THAT THEY WOULDN'T BE COMPENSATED FOR THEIR LAST TWO WEEKS OF WORK. IT'S NO SECRET THAT ECLIPSE HAS STRUGGLED FINANCIALLY FOR QUITE SOMETIME. THE CITY SAYS IT'S FALLEN BEHIND ON LEASE PAYMENTS FOR IT'S SPACE AT THE ALBUQUERQUE SUNPORT FOR THE LAST TWO MONTHS. THAT'S MORE THAN 2-HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS IN LOST CITY REVENUE. THE CITY SAYS IF ECLIPSE WERE TO GO UNDER -- IT WOULD MEAN MILLIONS LOST FOR ALBUQUERQUE'S ECONOMY. 'So they've got jobs at an average salary at 68 thousand and a thousand employees, you're looking at 68 million dollar payroll injection into the community so that has certainly been a great boom for Albuquerque.' WE MADE PHONE CALL AFTER PHONE CALL TO ECLIPSE AVIATION TODAY -- BUT NO ONE HAS RETURNED OUR REQUEST FOR A COMMENT. EMPLOYEES SAY THEY WERE GIVEN THE OPTION TO NOT FINISH OUT THEIR WORK DAY. THERE IS STILL NO WORD ON WHAT IS NEXT FOR ECLIPSE AVIATION OR IF THOSE EMPLOYEES WILL HAVE JOBS TO GO BACK TO. LIVE IN THE NEWSROOM ....VC...EWN 4. TODAY'S ANNOUNCEMENT IS BAD NEWS FOR A COMPANY THAT HAS BEEN STRUGGLING. THE MOST RECENT PROBLEMS WERE IN AUGUST. ECLIPSE LAID OFF NEARLY 850 WORKERS IN TWO SEPARATE CUTS. AT LAST CHECK -- THE COMPANY HAD MORE THAN TWO THOUSAND OF THEIR ECLIPSE 500 VERY LIGHT JETS ON BACK ORDER. PRODUCTION OF THE 2-MILLION DOLLAR JET HAS SLOWED TO A TRICKLE. C-N-M OFFERS 12-WEEK PROGRAMS -- TRAINING PEOPLE TO GO WORK AT THE ECLIPSE PLANT. C-N-M SAYS IT WON'T START ANY NEW COURSES UNTIL IT HAS A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR ECLIPSE.  « Less