Fired air-traffic controller still feels the sting

[NeoConsSuck]

Reagan fired more than 11,000 air-traffic controllers in 1981 for staging an illegal strike. The move was a major blow to the power of labor unions.

Ron Taylor was fired by President Reagan 23 years ago. He's still trying to get his job back.

Taylor, 57, of Stuart, Fla., was one of more than 11,000 air-traffic controllers fired by Reagan after they went on strike for higher wages and fewer hours on the stress-filled job. In 1993, President Clinton ended the "ban for life" Reagan had imposed on former members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Association, but Taylor and thousands of others weren't rehired.

"When they talk about Reagan as compassionate, I just don't know what they are talking about," says Taylor, president of PATCO, which continues legal action to get members' jobs back.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-06-10-taylor-vignette_x.htm

[oasis]

1. PATCO members bragged of their support for Reagan's presidency.

One of the few unions who backed the Republican ticket in 1980.

[TexasMexican]

2. "banned for life"

Wow I never heard about that, yeah that would definatly fuck you over.

[punpirate]

3. Reagan had gotten the support of the union...

... for god knows what reasons, and most of the press concerning the strike said that PATCO members had gotten good raises, and then struck for more. Those inside PATCO and in airport facilities knew that the strike was not about wages, but about unsafe equipment and out-of-date facilities, combined with not enough controllers to handle the traffic load. The striking PATCO controllers felt that conditions had deteriorated to the point that public safety was at risk.

If one considers the role of air traffic control in 9/11, they might have been right about the public's safety being jeopardized, even twenty years later.