43rd Anniversary of the PATCO strike
August 9, 2024–On August 3, 1981, nearly 13,000 Air Traffic Controllers, members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), walked out after contract talks with the Federal Aviation Administration collapsed.
President Ronald Reagan quickly branded the strike as illegal. He fired more than 11,000 Air Traffic Controllers who refused to return to work within 48 hours.
Watch our video about how the PATCO strike continues to affect our aviation system today:
The strike is our tactic. Solidarity is our power. We have more in common than any issue a union buster could dream up to try to divide us. The only antidote to union-busting is Solidarity. That’s the hard lesson of PATCO, but a really positive solution we all crave.
