Aug 5, 1981 Reagan Fired 11, 345 Striking Air Traffic Controllers: Consequences, War on Unions, Workers
- 'The Legacy of the Crushed 1981 PATCO Strike,' Jacobin Magazine, Aug. 2021. -Ed.
40 years ago today, 13,000 air traffic controllers went on strike. President Reagan would soon crush that strike - leading to devastating consequences for organized labor and all workers that we’re still dealing with today.
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On Aug. 3, 1981, 40 years ago today, 13,000 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) went on strike, demanding an annual wage increase, upgrades to outdated equipment, and a reduced workweek. Two days later, President Reagan fired 11,345 of them, sending a clear signal to corporate America that it could declare open season on organized labor and US workers generally.
The anti-union tactics employed by Reagan ushered in a renewed era of strikebreaking that’s still with us today as in Verizon’s hiring of 10,000 nonunion workers in an attempt to break a 2016 strike.
The 1981 strike was a consequence of stalled contract negotiations between PATCO and the Federal Aviation Admin. (FAA). The controllers called for a reduced workweek, bringing the existing 5-day, 40-hr workweek down to 4 days and 32 hrs, in response to widespread controller fatigue. The job was inherently stressful - workers regularly developed ulcers and high blood pressure - but that stress was exacerbated in 1978 by airline industry deregulation under Pres. Carter. Bob Poli, PATCO president in 1981, stated that nearly 90% of the workers didn’t stay in their jobs long enough to retire due to the job’s brutal stresses.
The strike was announced after a new contract offer from the FAA didn’t include the shorter working week - a key demand - or earlier retirement. As an immediate result of the strike, an estimated 7,000 flights across the country were cancelled. Later that day, Reagan demanded that the controllers return to work, stating: “They are in violation of the law, and if they do not report for work within 48 hrs, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated.”.. He theatrically read the oath taken by controllers not to participate in any strike action. As federal employees, PATCO did not have a legal right to strike - a fact Reagan would use to justify his ironhanded response.
By Aug. 5, the day of Reagan’s ultimatum, only 1,300 controllers had broken with the strike and returned to work. The president stayed true to his word, firing the over 11,000 controllers still striking and banning them from federal employment for life, a ban that was only lifted 12 yrs later, in 1993, by President Clinton. Following the failed strike, PATCO was decertified as a union. As an organization, it was annihilated. Many former controllers suffered immense hardships, including struggles to replace their income and the breakdown of relationships and marriages, after losing their highly specialized job. Some fired members and their partners even killed themselves.
Roots of a Failed Strike... More,
https://jacobin.com/2021/08/reagan-patco-1981-strike-legacy-air-traffic-controllers-union-public-sector-strikebreaking
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