talking history | syllabi | students | teachers | puzzle | about us
A warning.
When the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) went on strike against the Federal Aviation Administration in 1981, President Ronald Reagan waited just three days to fire all 10,000 of the striking federal employees. The President’s action transformed every strike in the nation into a union-busting opportunity. The Los Angeles local of PATCO distributed a leaflet with this illustration during the summer and fall of 1981. The leaflet urged other airline and airport workers to support PATCO, warning that the Reagan Administration’s suppression of the union would permit the airline companies to force layoffs and contract concessions from all workers in the industry.
Source: Los Angeles Professional Air Traffic Controllers’ Organization, 1981.