With Labor Day almost upon us, it’s appropriate we discuss anything germane to what was once referred quaintly and respectfully (if not affectionately) as the “working class.” Strikes, protests, street violence, the incremental passage of labor laws: All part of the American Labor Movement’s dramatic history.
Let us begin with a look back at what many labor activists regard as the precise moment when America’s unions began their dreadful and inexorable decline, and what labor expert Joseph McCartin once called, “one of the most important events in late twentieth century U.S. labor history.” We’re referring to the 1981 PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization) strike. That’s the one where President Reagan fired everybody.
Because it was illegal for federal employees to go on strike, their startling walkout appeared to everyone (even hardcore union honchos were scratching their heads) as a clear-cut violation of federal law. Predictably, declaring the strike to be a threat to “national safety,” Reagan ordered them back to work, citing the Taft-Hartley Act (1947).
Of the nearly 13,000 who went on strike, only about 1,300 heeded the President’s ominous warning and returned to work. Ultimately, Reagan wound up firing a total of 11,345 air traffic controllers. These well-meaning men and women were not only fired, they were banned for life from ever holding a federal civil service job.
The PATCO debacle was huge, not…