This Week in NATCA/Labor History
Monday, August 15, 2011


THIS WEEK IN NATCA HISTORY:

August 15, 1980 — PATCO job action: Union controllers stage a one-day slowdown at O’Hare International Airport that causes 616 delays of 30 minutes or more and costs the airlines more than $1 million in wasted fuel. The slowdown follows the FAA’s refusal to pay O’Hare controllers an annual tax-free bonus of $7,500 and upgrade the tower to Level V. All other control towers are classified as Level IV, and the agency calls the O’Hare demand “non-negotiable.”

August 15, 1988 — NATCA’s first contract: President Steve Bell announces a 10-member contract negotiation team, including: Bell; General Counsel William Osborne Jr.; Mark Kutch, Kansas City Center; Anthony Coiro, South Bend Airport; Barry Krasner, New York TRACON; Lonnie Kramer, Corpus Christi Airport; Richard Bamberger, San Diego Airport; Don Carlisle, Washington Center; Art Joseph, Miami Center; and Michael Lambert, Denver Center.

    A contract resource team to help on specific issues is created and includes: Deborah Katz, Washington Center; Richard Thompson, Anchorage Center; Brian Ladd, Anchorage Airport; Beth Thomas, Miami Tamiami Airport; David Landry, Lebanon Airport; Bernie Reed, Bay TRACON; Mike McNally, New York Center; John Thornton; and John Leyden of the Public Employees Department of the AFL-CIO.

August 15, 1997 — NATCA informational picketing: About 50 controllers picket outside Boston Center to call attention to asbestos problems at the facility.


THIS WEEK IN LABOR HISTORY:

1935: President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, providing, for the first time ever, guaranteed income for retirees and creating a system of unemployment benefits.

1937: Congress passes the National Apprenticeship Act, establishing a national advisory committee to research and draft regulations establishing minimum standards for apprenticeship programs. It was later amended to permit the Labor Dept. to issue regulations protecting the health, safety and general welfare of apprentices, and to encourage the use of contracts in their hiring and employment.

1946: Founding of the Maritime Trades Dept. of the AFL-CIO, to give "workers employed in the maritime industry and its allied trades a voice in shaping national policy."

1971: President Richard M. Nixon announces a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents in an attempt to combat inflation.