Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization
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| Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization | |
| Founded | 1968 |
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| Country | United States |
| Affiliation | Independent Union |
| Key people | Ron Taylor, President, CEO |
| Office location | Stuart, Florida, United States |
| Website | www.patco81.com |
The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization or PATCO was a labor union that once represented air traffic controllers in the United States in matters relating to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.
It was initially founded in 1968 and succeeded in being recognized as a collective bargaining agent in 1969, after a brief labor stoppage referred to as the "sickout". To circumvent the federal law against strikes by government unions, numerous controllers called in sick. After a few days the federal courts intervened and most controllers went back to work by order of the court, but the government was forced to the bargaining table. The controllers won substantial pay raises (about 110% their previous pay[citation needed]).
In the 1980 presidential election, PATCO, the Teamsters and several other AFL-CIO unions departed from their usual practice of backing Democrats by endorsing Ronald Reagan.
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[edit] PATCO Strike
On August 3, 1981 the union declared a strike, seeking better working conditions, better pay and a 32-hour workweek. In doing so, the union technically violated an oft-overlooked 1955 law {5 U.S.C. (Supp. III 1956) 118p.} that banned strikes by government unions. However, several government unions (including one representing employees of the Postal Service) had declared strikes in the intervening period without penalties. Ronald Reagan, however, declared the PATCO strike a "peril to national safety" and ordered them back to work under the terms of the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. Only 1,200 of the more than 12,000 controllers returned to work[citation needed]. PATCO thought it could cause the national air system to grind to a halt and use that as a bargaining tool. Reagan gave union members 48 hours to return, knowing that Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis had secretly trained replacements and the airplanes kept flying at 80% of normal[citation needed].
On August 5, following their refusal, Reagan fired the 11,359 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored the order, and permanently banned them from federal service. They were replaced initially with nonparticipating controllers, supervisors, staff personnel, some nonrated personnel, and in some cases by controllers transferred temporarily from other facilities. Some military controllers were also used until replacements could be trained. It proved the most stunning defeat for unions in 60 years. While some former controllers were subsequently rehired, they and their replacements are now represented by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which was organized in 1987 and has no direct connection with PATCO.
PATCO is now back as a labor union, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, Inc., and is an Independent Labor Union Certified by the NLRB Union. It represents the interests of the PATCO strikers, and has continued to fight the FAA on the lockout and age discrimination of the strikers since the ban was lifted by President Clinton on August 12, 1993. Clinton also offered many of the fired workers their jobs back, not many took them back because of different life styles and new employment.PATCO currently represents Air Traffic Controllers in the private sector, and is organizing private-sector Air Traffic Controllers everywhere in the USA to enhance their profession with better wages and working conditions.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- PATCO Web Site
- PATCO Documentary: Causes and Legacies of the 1981 Strike in progress
- Article giving the numbers in the strike
- Overview of the strike and its effects
[edit] References
- Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization Records, 1968-1982. Georgia State University W. R. The University Library, Special Collections and Archives Department. 25.75 linear ft.in 52 boxes. Manuscript Collection No. L1986-45. Online guide retrieved April 27, 2005.
