Posted on Aug 5, 2019
Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 air-traffic controllers
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On August 5, 1981, President Reagan fired 11,500 striking air traffic controllers. From the article:
"Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 air-traffic controllers
On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan begins firing 11,359 air-traffic controllers striking in violation of his order for them to return to work. The executive action, regarded as extreme by many, significantly slowed air travel for months.
Two days earlier, on August 3, almost 13,000 air-traffic controllers went on strike after negotiations with the federal government to raise their pay and shorten their workweek proved fruitless. The controllers complained of difficult working conditions and a lack of recognition of the pressures they face. Across the country, some 7,000 flights were canceled. The same day, President Reagan called the strike illegal and threatened to fire any controller who had not returned to work within 48 hours. Robert Poli, president of the Professional Air-Traffic Controllers Association (PATCO), was found in contempt by a federal judge and ordered to pay $1,000 a day in fines.
On August 5, an angry President Reagan carried out his threat, and the federal government began firing the 11,359 air-traffic controllers who had not returned to work. In addition, he declared a lifetime ban on the rehiring of the strikers by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). On August 17, the FAA began accepting applications for new air-traffic controllers, and on October 22 the Federal Labor Relations Authority decertified PATCO."
"Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 air-traffic controllers
On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan begins firing 11,359 air-traffic controllers striking in violation of his order for them to return to work. The executive action, regarded as extreme by many, significantly slowed air travel for months.
Two days earlier, on August 3, almost 13,000 air-traffic controllers went on strike after negotiations with the federal government to raise their pay and shorten their workweek proved fruitless. The controllers complained of difficult working conditions and a lack of recognition of the pressures they face. Across the country, some 7,000 flights were canceled. The same day, President Reagan called the strike illegal and threatened to fire any controller who had not returned to work within 48 hours. Robert Poli, president of the Professional Air-Traffic Controllers Association (PATCO), was found in contempt by a federal judge and ordered to pay $1,000 a day in fines.
On August 5, an angry President Reagan carried out his threat, and the federal government began firing the 11,359 air-traffic controllers who had not returned to work. In addition, he declared a lifetime ban on the rehiring of the strikers by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). On August 17, the FAA began accepting applications for new air-traffic controllers, and on October 22 the Federal Labor Relations Authority decertified PATCO."
Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 air-traffic controllers
Posted from history.com
Office of the President (POTUS)
American History
Air Traffic Controller
Posted >1 y ago
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I wrote a letter to President Reagan at the time suggesting that it was a great opportunity to privatize the air traffic industry. Let those who use it pay for it. Sadly, no one listened to me (and I didn't really expect it). Allowing public service employees to unionize (a concept given birth in California - which should tell you something) was never a good idea
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SGT (Join to see)
CPT Jack Durish respectfully, the National Association of Letter Carriers former in 1889, first in Milwaukee. Wisconsin also happened to be the first state to permit collective bargaining by public employees, in 1959.
Did California public unions predate those actions?
Did California public unions predate those actions?
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CPT Jack Durish
SGT (Join to see) - Thank you. I guess I should have known that Governor Moonbeam couldn't have an original thought
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Cpl (Join to see)
It's sad that the democrat darling FDR even protested public/government unions.
"All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service," he wrote. "It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management."
Roosevelt didn’t stop there.
"The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations," he wrote.
"All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service," he wrote. "It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management."
Roosevelt didn’t stop there.
"The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations," he wrote.
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