Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization
The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization or "PATCO" was a labor union which formerly represented air traffic controllers in the United States in matters relating to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. 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. 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 violated a 1955 law {5 U.S.C. (Supp. III 1956) 118p.} which 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, now President, subsequently 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. On August 5, following their refusal, Reagan fired the 11,359 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored the order. They were replaced initially with non-participating controllers, supervisors, staff personnel, some non-rated personnel, and in some cases by controllers transferred TDY from other facilities. Some military controllers were also used until replacements could be trained. 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.
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