Professional Air Traffic Controller Essay -- Career Research

The seeds of the Professional Air Traffic Controller (PATCO) strike were sown long before the strike began on August 3, 1981. PATCO was founded in 1968, and from the beginnings of the union, its members hoped to improve their current work situation under the FAA. It is important to note that as a union composed of federal employees, PATCO was not allowed to go on strike or else suffer civil and criminal penalties. Between 1970 and 1980 PATCO was under the leadership of union president John F. Leyden, during this time PATCO made significant gains. Leyden’s leadership actively encouraged cooperation with the FAA and discouraged illegal acts by PATCO members. In 1980, Robert Poli became the new president of PATCO. Poli held radically different views than Leyden, he favored a militant approach to negotiations with the FAA. He believed that the system would be nearly impossible to run without PATCO. On August 3, 1981 after 7 months of unsuccessful bargaining approxim ately 12,500 of PATCO’s 17,500 employees went on strike. An outraged President Reagan ordered the strikers to return to work or be permanently banned from any form of future federal employment. Following this threat 11,350 PATCO workers gave up their jobs (Shostak, 2009). On August 17, 1981 the FAA began hiring new workers (Schalch). PATCO struggled to survive into 1982. The majority of the union’s finances were drained by massive fines. Members of the union demonstrated fierce loyalty and continued to send dues as the were able throughout 1982. However this was insufficient to save PATCO, and the union was decertified in the U.S. Court of appeals on June 11, 1982 (McCartin, 2011). On June 19, 1987 the NATCA was certified as the sole bargaining grou... ... as president (McCartin, 2006). Works Cited McCartin, Joseph. â€Å"Collision Course: How Reagan Broke PATCO to Create the ‘Brotherhood of the Downwardly Mobile.’† Social Policy 41.4 (2011): 15-21. Academic OneFile. Web. 2 May 2012. - - -. â€Å"A Historian’s Perspective on the PATCO Strike, its Legacy, and its Lessons.† Employee Responsibilities & Rights Journal 18.3 (2006): 215-222. Academic OneFile. Web. 2 May 2012. Schalch, Kathleen. â€Å"1981 Strike Leaves Legacy for American Workers.† National Public Radio. N.p., 3 Aug. 2006. Web. 1 May 2012. . Shostak, Arthur. â€Å"PATCO’s 1981 Strike.† Labor Studies Journal 34.2 (2009): 149-158. Academic OneFile. Web. 2 May 2012. - - -. â€Å"Unhappy 25th Anniversary: The PATCO Strike in Retrospective.† New Labor Forum 15.3 (2006): 75-82. Academic OneFile. Web. 2 May 2012.