Air controllers' history repeats itself

[Omaha Steve]

Full article http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/guests/s_464801.html



Air controllers' history repeats itself

By David Moberg
Sunday, August 6, 2006

Twenty-five years ago on Aug. 3, most of the nation's 13,000 air traffic controllers walked out on strike, precipitating a conflict that still casts a shadow over American work life today.

The next day, President Ronald Reagan moved to decertify their union -- PATCO, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization -- and threatened to fire any controllers who didn't return to work within 48 hours.

By breaking that strike and the union, Reagan gave presidential legitimacy to a wave of anti-union actions by private employers, from breaking strikes to adamantly fighting their employees union organizing efforts.

This assault by management has done more to shrink organized labor in the United States than any other cause.

Looking at the nation's air controllers a quarter-century later, there are some cautionary lessons.

For labor, the lesson is that unions are strongest when they take pains to win broad popular support for their cause and when they stick together. If all the airline unions -- the pilots, the flight attendants, the machinists -- had united behind PATCO, and if PATCO had better demonstrated how its demands would protect public safety, the controllers might have held off Reagan's attack.

Similarly today, airline unions have not worked together to forge a common strategy that protects both workers and the public while addressing the industry's financial crisis. Management, often with the help of bankruptcy courts, has imposed deep cutbacks in pay, pensions and working conditions for workers one union at a time.

[napi21]

1. I remember Reagan firing almost all of them, but I don't recall much

else about it. I wonder what would have hapened if NONE of them had broken with their Union and just stayed away? ATC's are not taught overnight, or even in a few months! It takes years of experience to be able to monitor a single station, let alone become a supervisor.

I know it's water over the dam and we can't go back, but I sure wish the curent ones would think about what might have been and get together NOW...just for strength in numbers!

[MercutioATC]

3. Reagan would have done the same thing, regardless.

The goal was to set an example. He did it.

Almost all controllers DID walk out in 1981. The National Airspace System was crippled for years due to inadequate ATC staffing after the strike. However, Reagan got his wish...he broke a federal union.

As for today, it's illegal for us to strike (we're a safety-sensitive profession). That aside, the government would like nothing better than to have us attempt a job action because it would give them legal authority to disband our union again.

Even if we all walked out, the situation would be no different than 1981. The government would use supervisors and military controllers to work the traffic until they could train enough new people to do the job (and make no mistake...even if the FAA set the new ATC starting pay at $50k/yr, there'd be plenty of people who would sign up).

[napi21]

4. Ahhh, I forgot about the military people who already have at least

SOME training. I was thinking in terms of nobody being capable of taking over. Sorry.

[MercutioATC]

5. We also now have private schools teaching the basics of ATC.

"About 20 schools offer air traffic control programs. These range from certificate and two-year associate degree programs to bachelor's degree programs. All of these programs offer background preparation for students who wish to become air traffic controllers. In these programs, you study the airway system, FAA rules, aircraft performance, and related job skills. You learn to use controller equipment, including computers, radar, and electronic communication."

http://www.iseek.org/sv/22030.jsp?id=490100


While these people don't have the skills to actually work without training, these schools are/were (depends on the the FAA's "hiring plan du jour") our pipeline for new controllers. They'd make it easier to repopulate the ranks than it was in 1981.

[flyarm]

6. I WAS A F/A AT THE TIME FOR ONE OF THE BIGGEST AIRLINES

IN THE NATION..I SAID OVER AND OVER TO OUR UNION..IF WE DID NOT STAND BEHIND PATCO WE WOULD ALL BE SCREWED..

i said it to pilots and everyone who i could get to listen..but listen is all they did..listen and ignor..and to this day..ALL unions especially airline employees have paid the price for their inaction..and their selfish stand of not standing at all!

but i felt it should have been across the board..i felt every union in the country should have shut this country down..

planes trains and automobiles..we should have shut this country down!

instead by our inaction, we gave Reagan a win..and a lifetime of loss for the American working man/woman..

the loss has been imeasurable..in every way..

with pensions , medical insurance , security in jobs, with middle class wages and most of all for security!

we did not stand for the working guy...or the traveling public..
because now unless someone dies and the airlines get sued big time....the unions get hardly anything passed to ensure safety..
whether it be planes or trains..and trucks on our roadways..

instead of safety first..it is now profit first..

it is ontime performance first instead of safety first..

but not only the unions are to blame..the American consumer is also to blame..

instead of American people demanding safety first, you will never have safety first..

instead of putting stupid priorities first, you should be demanding security and safety..you can not assume it..you must demand it.

instead of greed and the "me first " attitude..you must pay for security..you will not get the best quality of people who are tasked with saving your life..when you want cheeper fares, at the cost of all else!..

you will not get the protections you need and should demand .. when you think the rules are for everyone and you continue to break the rules set in place for maximum saftey for all..yes i am talking to those who think their cell phone is more important than the cockpit talking to the control tower..and you are sharing the same microwave! or those who think their computer in the seat back pocket is more important than the guy next to you getting out of his seat and row..should their be an emergency evacuation...or the giant water bottles brought on by passengers that will roll into the isles in an emergency landing possibly killing other passengers because they will trip on them...when trying to evacuate..

many things today , your flight crew can not get done, even with unions, for your safety..because ..in todays world..its profit first..

so next time you see someone with a huge water bottle or computer ( lap top) in the seat back pocket..ask them to put it under the seat in front of them..because it will become a projectile..and may be the very thing that impedes your evacuation..or will become a projectile( as in,it becomes like a bullet)
and don't get pissy when your flight crew asks you to follow proceedures..i know you want to talk on that phone..and you want to work on your computer..

but if you are injured or killed..will you still be able to talk on that phone or work on your computer?? and just how damn important is that phone call??

i even speak out when i go on trains which i do to bring my car up north each spring and fall to and from my fla home and n.e. home..

i see no cars being checked for anything..no security is being done period..and it makes me nuts..these trains are going into little town America everyday..and nothing in peoples cars is being inspected..nothing!!

we all have to be responsible..with our safety..just like we are for our medical health...

speak up

and stand up for the Air traffic controllers..they are the first line of security for your travel..

their job is tough..underpaid..over worked..and one of the most stressful jobs one could have..do you not want the best people for that job??
if you want the best,and the best trained ..and people who give a damn..well damn it...pay them..and give them the best working conditions..after all..each plane goes up..and it must also come down..

be responsible and make sure the best people in this country are bringng that plane down where is should come down!

and make sure the best people are in control in an emergency ,

So the people in that tube in the air can count on the best in control!

Fly ..a recently retired flight attendant for the biggest airline in the USA

[Dr.Phool]

8. I blame the entire mess on the AFL-CIO

If they had ANY balls, they would have told Reagan, "If you fire the ATC people, we'll call a nationwide strike, and shut this country down completely"!

They didn't, and organized labor has been on the ropes ever since.

[Omaha Steve]

9. I was a GAU member at that time

Our Internationale's convention was to have taken place in Hawaii. It was relocated to Chicago, so attendees could travel by rail, bus, etc. The GAU is no more. It merged with another print union to become the GAIU. It now has become a part of the Teamsters.

I do remember hearing many people say PATCO never honored any picket lines like construction workers at airports, why should we honor theirs. Me. I'm for total solidarity with workers, unionized or not. Remember what happened in Poland?

[Jensen]

13. Fly - you are so right....

People believe that if is NOT affecting them who cares...They fail to see someday it might be happening to them!
Today they dump "OUR" pensions, take are insurance away etc.etc.!!

[MercutioATC]

2. Thanks for posting this. Here's the TRUTH about what happened...

...with the current FAA/NATCA contract negotiations.

(warning, it's a PDF)...

http://www.natca.org/assets/Documents/mediacenter/NATCARebuttaltoFAAs-Congressional-Contract-Submission.pdf


In a nutshell, this link details the misrepresentations, inflexibility and lies on the FAA's part that resulted in it imposing a contract on air traffic controllers.

[flyarm]

7. MY HATS OFF TO YOU SIR!! you and the fine people at ATC

brought me many safe takeoffs and landings for 33 yrs!!

you have my utmost respect!! and gratitude!!

fly

[MercutioATC]

10. It's both our pleasure and our privilege.

Yes, it's a job. It's also a responsibility that we take very seriously. We feel a personal commitment to what we do and we're proud to have both the largest and safest ATC system in the world.

We didn't expect to resolve this contract negotiation without givebacks. In fact, we (a workforce of less than 15,000 people) agreed to $1.4 BILLION in concessions over the 5-year life of the contract.

The issue wasn't the numbers. The FAA began the "negotiations" by picking a number that they knew a workforce of less than 15,000 couldn't agree to ($2B in concessions) and refused to budge from it. They began with that $2B demand and, after 9 months of contract negotiations, hadn't compromised on it at all. Clearly, the goal wasn't to utilize collective bargaining to reach an agreement with its employees. It was to drive the process to impasse so they could unilaterally impose a contract.

The damage caused by their approach is threefold:

1) It makes a mockery of the collective bargaining process, which (I believe) collaterally affects ALL organized labor.

2) It encourages our most experienced (and more to the point from their point of view, highest-paid) controllers to retire. Yes, that will save them money in the short term. However, our ATC system works better, safer, and more efficiently than any other ATC system in the world for a couple of reasons...our huge experience base being the most important. Losing the most experienced 25% of your workforce isn't a valid method of cost-savings in this business...it's dangerous.

3) The other factor in the past success of our system is our ability to attract quality employees.

When I hired on over 15 years ago the FAA knew how to do that. Prospective air traffic controllers had to take an ATC aptitude test which over 90% "failed". The remaining 10% then went through a 3-month screening process at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City...which about 50% failed. Those left became air traffic controllers.

To do this, I had to quit my job and travel to Oklahoma City with the knowledge that I had an even chance of coming back home three months later unemployed. The reason I made the choice to risk those odds was the potential financial benefit.

The imposed contract reduces starting pay for air traffic controllers by 30%. We already have many facilities that are understaffed. What will reducing starting pay by 30% do to the makeup of our potential workforce?

This administration has made the choice to sacrifice air safety for the opportunity to weaken organized labor. That's something that should concern us all.


Thank you for your kind words. I am, as always, more than willing to answer any inquiries.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. Is complete privatization coming?

The flight service stations are under contract with Lockheed, and the towers at some smaller airports use contract controllers (I think mostly retired PATCO controllers). Is some of the FAA's intransigence in the recent contract negotiations motivated by an intent to provoke a strike so they can fire the controllers and privatize the whole operation? What a disaster that would be! The private towers (I know of a couple, locally) seem to operate just fine, but they are at small, low-traffic airports with little or no commercial activity, and they aren't currently designed as for-profit businesses. But I'm afraid that someday, ATC will be just another private, for-profit business, and we know what can happen to safety if the driving motive is profit...

[MercutioATC]

12. We've managed to fight it off for years.

Under Clinton, ATC was classified as an "inherently governmental" function.

Under Bush, it's changed to "Class A Commercial".

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1202/121902t1.htm


With the recent contract "negotiations" and the decision to "run the FAA like a business", privatization talk has decreased, but it's probably more of a danger now than ever.


Our best hope is a Dem Congress in 2006 and a Dem White House in 2008. If that doesn't happen, complete privatization of U.S. ATC will probably become a reality.