Sunday, August 5, 2012

31 Years Ago: The Beginning Of The End Of Public Employee Unions

31 years ago, President Reagan fired over 11,000 Air Traffic Controllers after they went on an illegal strike.  From The History Channel: 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.http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/reagan-fires-11359-air-traffic-controllers
With Reagan doing this, it opened the door for Governors like Scott Walker of Wisconsin to crack down on public employee unions who had more control over policy than their employers are were literally stealing money from taxpayers.
Reagan was 31 years ahead of his time, but taxpayers in many areas of the country are now able to see the fruits of his labor.

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