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.
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I remember that day fondly.
He should have fired EVERY federal employee.
For a moment there I thought I saw FERAL employee
What’s the difference?
Most do stay within a very nicely climate-controlled area and rarely venture out. They do indeed feed on the things they find “lying around” (like other people’s money, etc.). Yeah, its a toss up.
Ol’ Ronnie kicked a lot of folks in the nuts…loved it .
I didn’t know about this, being a Canuck and all, but it certainly elevates my opinion of Reagan. I grew up in Edmonton and the owner of the Edmonton Oilers at the time (Peter Pocklington) did a similar thing. He owned a meatpacking plant that employed around two hundred workers. They had been in labor negotiations for some time before it became apparent that good faith bargaining wasn’t going to happen. Pocklington threatened them with the outright closure of the plant if they refused to get off their podium. They didn’t and he followed through by shuttering the plant and everyone lost their jobs outright. Me, and many others thought it was brilliant.
Labor unions are functionally a labor shakedown operation.
I have no problem with this.
It does not always go well for them.
My buddy’s older brother ran a shakedown crew and ended up fished out of the East River.
Probably poor negotiating skills.
But for any shakedown to work, you cannot kill the golden goose.
Public labor unions are the perfect answer, as politicians only want to be re-elected, and supporting the union demands buys their vote.
It is the taxpayer getting shook down.
So the taxpayer either accepts the shakedown, or starts (metaphorically) snuffing the crew.
You can ‘close your business’ in any jurisdiction by voting with your feet and simply moving somewhere where the shakedown is more palatable.