Federal Negotiations? Or Union Busting
Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization
Offset, 1981
New York, USA
37401
One month ago, on January 29th, an American Airlines Flight collided with a U.S. Army helicopter in Washington D.C., killing 67 people. It was the first major fatal commercial plane crash in the U.S. since 2009.
However, air traffic controllers (ATCs) have been sounding the alarm for years that a fatal crash was coming. In 2017, the National Transportation Safety Board called for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to install more safety systems; none were installed over the next 6 years. In 2023, 503 significant air traffic controller mistakes were documented in FAA safety reports, 65% more than in 2022. So far in 2025, the number of incidents is lower than this time last year, but fatalities from crashes have more than doubled. Despite the increased fatalities, Trump decided to fire hundreds of FAA employees earlier this month.
FAA records attribute these near-accidents to human error, a result of ATCs working exhausted and understaffed for far too long. ATCs report working ten hour shifts, six days a week, year round, in one of the most high-stakes, life-or-death professions in the world. In 2024, up to 99% of towers were understaffed, with many ATCs experiencing mental health problems, falling asleep on the job, or showing up to work under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The technology and infrastructure of the towers is also outdated—broken elevators, bees and biting insects, and faulty air conditioning or heating units are just some of the issues contributing to an unsafe work environment.
CSPG’s Poster of the Week shows that the issue goes back even further. In 1980, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), the union for ATCs, backed Ronald Reagan for president because he promised improvements to the FAA. Once elected, he ignored PATCO’s demands for increased staffing and newer technology. PATCO members went on strike in 1981, grounding all flights except Air Force One. However, due to the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 which denies federal workers the right to strike, Reagan refused to negotiate and he fired 11,345 ATCs. He also sent federal marshals to arrest 17 union leaders. Steve Wallaert, President of PATCO local 291 (shown on poster with name misspelled) was even wrapped in chains upon arrest and given a 60-day sentence.
Reagan silenced ATCs, PATCO was decertified, and the workers have been understaffed and under-resourced ever since. The treatment of PATCO workers also had a ripple effect across private industry and labor movement efforts. Reagan made it acceptable to fire striking workers, thereby increasing job precarity and weakening workers’ ability to keep wages at pace with productivity. Since 1981, wages have stagnated and major strikes have decreased from an annual average of 300 pre-1981, to an average of 16 in the 2010s.
Labor rights for workers means health and safety for all!
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