1981: President Reagan Fires Air Traffic Controllers

Program Description:
President Reagan’s firing of the Air Traffic controllers for refusing to return to work, introduced a battle with labor whose echo is still very much a part of our contemporary political discourse. President Reagan sent a message to public service unions—and to unions in general—that they would not be dictating the terms of their relationship to corporate America or to federal or state governments and that the era of labor’s victories would be over. 

In this episode, we look at how this moment was nested into the rise of Free Market Philosophy and how it resonates today in the contemporary conflicts in Ohio, Wisconsin and in many other states and municipalities.

This Program's Featured Panelists: 

Dr. Joseph McCartin is an Associate Professor of History at Georgetown University. He is an expert on twentieth century U.S. labor, social and political issues. He teaches courses in 20th Century U.S. Labor History, U.S. Since 1945, America Between the Wars, 20th Century (and Modern) U.S. State and Society, and 20th Century U.S. Social History. His new book, Collision Course: Ronald Reagan, the Air Traffic Controllers, and the Strike that Changed America [New York: Oxford University Press, 2011] explores the social and historical impact of this labor strike, and will be available at our show! 

Mike Downey is the president of RI Council 94 AFSCME. He followed his father and grandfather into a career as a plumber. He went to La Salle Academy. After La Salle, he went to plumbing school, a five-year program of work and classes. Downey, of Irish heritage, lives now in Charlestown, where he was on the Town Council, but grew up in Providence and Narragansett.

Paul Cannon was an Air Traffic Controller for 13 years in Boston. He was the President of a PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization) local between 1975 and 1979, stepping down to be the first Choirboys in New England. He resigned as a Choirboy and became campaign manager for George Kerr and participated in the PATCO strike and stayed active with the local. Later he became a business agent for Teamster Local 122.

Program Description:
President Reagan’s firing of the Air Traffic controllers for refusing to return to work, introduced a battle with labor whose echo is still very much a part of our contemporary political discourse. President Reagan sent a message to public service unions—and to unions in general—that they would not be dictating the terms of their relationship to corporate America or to federal or state governments and that the era of labor’s victories would be over. 

In this episode, we look at how this moment was nested into the rise of Free Market Philosophy and how it resonates today in the contemporary conflicts in Ohio, Wisconsin and in many other states and municipalities.

This Program's Featured Panelists: 

Dr. Joseph McCartin is an Associate Professor of History at Georgetown University. He is an expert on twentieth century U.S. labor, social and political issues. He teaches courses in 20th Century U.S. Labor History, U.S. Since 1945, America Between the Wars, 20th Century (and Modern) U.S. State and Society, and 20th Century U.S. Social History. His new book, Collision Course: Ronald Reagan, the Air Traffic Controllers, and the Strike that Changed America [New York: Oxford University Press, 2011] explores the social and historical impact of this labor strike, and will be available at our show! 

Mike Downey is the president of RI Council 94 AFSCME. He followed his father and grandfather into a career as a plumber. He went to La Salle Academy. After La Salle, he went to plumbing school, a five-year program of work and classes. Downey, of Irish heritage, lives now in Charlestown, where he was on the Town Council, but grew up in Providence and Narragansett.

Paul Cannon was an Air Traffic Controller for 13 years in Boston. He was the President of a PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization) local between 1975 and 1979, stepping down to be the first Choirboys in New England. He resigned as a Choirboy and became campaign manager for George Kerr and participated in the PATCO strike and stayed active with the local. Later he became a business agent for Teamster Local 122.