PATCO and the Ramifications for Unions

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Utah Valley University *

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Economics

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May 31, 2024

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Frame 1 PATCO and the Ramifications for Unions By Truman Frame Aviation Science Department, Utah Valley University AVSC 410G: Global Ethical and Professional Issues in Aviation March 19 th , 2024

Frame 2 The issue of unfair working conditions leading to strikes is something that is truly embedded in the history of the US workforce and economy. Workers and their employers standing up for themselves and their work is something that has a very American feel to it. Fighting against a larger corporation for better work conditions and benefits, is something that feels rooted in American patriotism. There have been many different instances of strikes leading to reform in the workplace allowing people to work better and more efficiently. This is the cause of unions and their role to protect the workers that most times cannot fend for themselves against their employers. The strike that we see with PATCO is no different from the rest. It was caused due to an attempt at bettering work conditions and benefits only to be met with disagreement and a difference of understanding between the workforce as a whole and their employers. In the year 1980, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) sought to endorse the new inaugurated President Reagan. A year later, according to the article, “The1981 PATCO Strike” by Michael Barera, “PATCO began contract negotiations with the FAA in February 1981. Its main goals were a 32-hour work week, a $10,000 raise for all its members, and a better retirement package.” (Barera, 2021) This negotiation was an attempt to better the conditions of the PATCO workers and did not seem like a huge ask to the organization as a whole. However, when met with rejection, “the majority of PATCO members went on strike” (Barera, 2021) in early August of 1981. “The union represented about 13,000 people” (Simon, Malone, 2021) of the 13,000, “over 12,000 members… walked off the job after contract negotiations with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) broke down.” (Barera, 2021) This strike directly broke the laws set to prevent government employees from striking. At the time, “a total of 7,000 flights were

Frame 3 cancelled” (Barera, 2021), but “While the strike slowed air transportation around the country, it was not as disruptive as PATCO had hoped, as about 80% of flights remained unaffected.” (Barera, 2021). This was an upset to the workers striking obviously because they had hoped that their strike would have a more detrimental effect on the industry and Americas aviation flow. If it had been more effective, they would have felt that their jobs were truly unreplaceable and that they might receive the negotiations that had attempted to make. Instead, Reagan held strong and ended up winning public relations too “as it was estimated that the public backed Reagan over the union by nearly a two-to-one margin” (Barera, 2021). However, this is not all Reagan did. Regan saw this “strike as a challenge to his authority” (Barera, 2021) and would go on to tell the strikers that, “They are in violation of the law, and if they do not report for work within forty-eight hours, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated.” (Houlihan, 2021). Reagan held true to his word when just two days later, when “only 1,300 controllers had broken with the strike and returned to work” he went on to fire “over eleven thousand controllers still striking and banning them from federal employment for life.” (Houlihan, 2021). This failed strike attempt made by PATCO resulted in PATCO becoming decertified as a union. (Houlihan, 2021). This was a massive setback for not only the organization that had practically become dissolved, but also the unions across America. It has been stated that because of this failed strike there was a decline in union representation. (Hoppe, 2019). This is something that I agree with. Because of just how bad the outcome of this strike was, I can easily see the correlation between the PATCO strike and the decline of union representation. Unions are extremely helpful to employees in large industries and have been helpful for over 100 years now. They give job security and allow workers to better their conditions by

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Frame 4 supporting the employees of an industry as a whole. I think that Unions should still be used and in fact are needed still today just based on the fact that there are many people willing to work for cheaper and in not as favorable working conditions. If there were no unions the turnover rates for the vast majority of industries in America would skyrocket. It would allow for outsourcing that would essentially crumble the American workforce.

Frame 5 References Hoppe, E. A. (Ed.). (2019). Ethical Issues in Aviation: The FAA and the Ethical Dimensions of Regulatory Capture. (2nd Edition). Routledge. Houlihan, G., Houlihan, G., Harper, T. A., Jared Abbott, Fred DeVeaux, Abbott, J., DeVeaux, F., Bush, C., Jamieson, D., Windham, L., McCarthy, M. A., Moody, K., & Ackerman, S. (2021, March 8). The legacy of the crushed 1981 Patco strike . Jacobin. https://jacobin.com/2021/08/reagan-patco-1981-strike-legacy-air-traffic-controllers-union- public-sector-strikebreaking Simon, J., & Malone, K. (2021, August 5). Looking back on when president Reagan fired the air traffic controllers . NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/08/05/1025018833/looking-back-on- when-president-reagan-fired-air-traffic-controllers Stout, D. B., Treiber, J., Donovan, N., Li, D., & S., G. (2021, September 2). The 1981 patco strike . University of Texas at Arlington Libraries. https://libraries.uta.edu/news-events/blog/1981-patco-strike

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