We All Live in Wisconsin - ProgressivePopulist

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We All Live in Wisconsin
By Randolph T. Holhut - ProgressivePopulist

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Conservatives heaped plenty of hosannas upon the memory of Ronald Reagan on the occasion of the centennial of his birth earlier this month. Few dissenting voices were heard about what a disaster his presidency was for our nation. The list of reasons why Ronald Reagan was one of the worst presidents ever, at least until George W. Bush came along, is considerably long. The economic policies that transformed our nation from the largest creditor nation to the largest debtor nation. The illegal proxy wars in Central America, funded with illegal weapons sales to Iran. The demonization of government as a force for evil, and the delegitimizing of government as a countervailing force against corporate greed. The shredding of the social welfare “safety net” to pay for tax cuts for the rich.

These are merely some of the highlights. For me, one of things that I will always hate Ronald Reagan for is his role as union-buster-in-chief. Aside from labor activists, the 1981 strike by the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) has faded into the dim mists of memory. But President Reagan's harsh treatment of the strikers set the tone for three decades of union busting in America. On Aug. 3, 1981, PATCO went on strike, seeking better working conditions, better pay and a 32-hour workweek. Reagan reacted by declaring the strike a “peril to national safety,” and ordered the strikers back to work. Only 1,300 of the nearly 13,000 controllers complied. Subsequently, Reagan demanded those remaining on strike return to work within 48 hours or their jobs would be forfeited. On Aug. 5, 1981, following the PATCO workers' refusal to obey his ultimatum, Reagan fired the 11,345 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored the order, and banned them from federal service for life (the ban was later lifted by President Clinton in 1993).

The irony of the PATCO debacle was that the union had endorsed Reagan for president in 1980. They were perhaps the least likely candidates for labor martyrdom. But, as labor organizer and writer Steve Early wrote in the Boston Globe on the 25th anniversary of the PATCO strike in 2006, the mistakes that were made in 1981 would haunt the labor movement for years to come. “PATCO failed to build ties with the pilots, mechanics, flight attendants, and baggage handlers whose backing was so desperately needed during the controllers' walk-out,” wrote Early. "The lesson of PATCO … is as old as unions themselves: An injury to one is an injury to all. No labor movement can long survive, much less thrive, without a strong culture of mutual aid and protection."

After three decades of wage stagnation, longer hours and shrinking pensions for working Americans, PATCO's demands seem unrealistic today. But what PATCO sought was what their professional peers in Europe enjoyed at the time, a standard of living that seems remote to Americans today.

Why? Because the labor laws that working Americans fought and died for in the 1930s have been gutted by the powers that be. Companies can fire anyone suspected of union activity, at any time, for any reason, and not face punishment. It has become almost impossible to unionize any workplace in America, and corporations like to keep it that way. They want to drive down wages and benefits and keep workers fearful and insecure.

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