1983 PATCO Strike

1983 PATCO Strike and Following Events that Changed Thousands of Public Sector Jobs Forever

Adam Satterfield

10/17/2019

Patco Strikers Outside an Airport during the 1981 PATCO Air-Traffic Controllers Strike,  Library of Georgia State University

            The 12,000 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization walked off the job on August 3, 1981. Which not only caused many issues with the Federal Aviation Administration but also changed the relationship between workers, employers and unions forever. The workers all over the United States were fed up with a long work week and low pay, so they appealed to PATCO to go on strike. The strike stirred many responses all around the United States. The article from the Miller Center cites that they even caught the attention of President Ronald Regan, who threatened that if the workers did not return to work in a 48-hour time then they would all be fired. Stating that the participants of the strike were in violation of the law. After the 48-hour time was up, Reagan ordered the firing of 11,359 workers as well as declaring that they would all be blacklisted from getting another Government job. Which prompted the cancellation of 7,000 flights around the United States. As well as the president of PATCO being fined $1,000 for being in contempt by a federal judge. There is more to learn about Reagan v PATCO in this article. Air Traffic Controllers and a more in-depth look into the legal proceedings following the strike and mass firing.

            The strike itself was conducted all around the United States many airports. With soon to be former air traffic controllers marching up and down the streets surrounding the airports. The New Yorker Article, The Cost of Defying the President Which caused congestion and made passengers late for any flight that was not already canceled. Mr. Gregory Paldo was a member of the strike as well as a primary source stemming from the protests and he took his son to the event, who would later go on to write about what he and his father did during that time. The article also recounts that they “trampled the gravel, level the asters, and sedge grass on the roadside…” meaning that their conviction to strike out in front of the airport was not to be taken lightly and that they had intention to see their demands met. Mr. Paldo joined his fellow coworkers in the collective fight to be able to live a healthy and happy life while being an Air Traffic Controller, regardless of the consequences of his actions. Another issue the strike and subsequent firing of all the air traffic controllers was that the FAA needed to find new controllers. This Politico Article details the effort that was taken to attempt to re-staff all of the fired professional air traffic controllers Which proved to be a huge task, since an air traffic controller usually would undergo three years of training to become a ‘professional’ in the field. The vacancies were initially replaced with non-participating controllers, as well as supervisors, staff personnel and even non related employees as well. Military controllers were also brought in to stop the figurative ‘bleeding’ in the air traffic control room. The majority of untrained workers controlling the skies saw the cases of near-misses increase into the hundreds whereas before. The near-miss events were under 10 in an entire decade. PATCO was also decertified by the Federal Labor Relations Authority and subsequent appeals were ignored. Legal action was also unable to bring PATCO back into the FLRA. However, by 1986 former air traffic controllers were allowed to reapply for their positions but by 2006, only 850 former PATCO strikers were rehired by the FAA. The mass firing of the strikers also prompted companies that had large strikes deal with the problem by firing their own workers and hiring replacements. Which has been a driving force in slowing the number of labor strikes down from 300 in 1970 to only 11 in 2010.

 The mass firing of these workers who were advocating for themselves is a gross violation against the Community of Mankind, being that  when referring to that community, it should involve the common decency between men. And with this mass firing it shows that the government was not looking to better the community and instead they would rather see their workers suffer for their own gain. We as a people should be able to trust the government, who claims to protect the people of the United States to be held accountable for those who work for them to drive our public utilities and when they see injustice and decide to take action for it. They are not thrown away and replaced within 48 short hours. Not only does this disrupt the lives of the workers who were laid off. But they also endangered the lives of the passengers all around the United States attempting to travel.