ABSTRACT
On August 3, 1981 more than 12,000 air traffic controllers, all members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), illegally conducted a work stoppage (strike) that has had profound implications for both aviation and the labor movement in the US. The actions taken that year reverberate throughout the nation to this day. In response to the walkout of the air traffic controllers, thenpresident Ronald Reagan stated that the striking controllers were in violation of federal law, and that they had 48 hours to return to work or they would be fired. Most of the controllers did not return to work and were subsequently fired. I was one of them.
