For the illegal strike in 1981 that led to the mass firing of 11,400 of its members, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) paid the price of failure: it disbanded. For the past three years, as their ranks were gradually rebuilt to a current level of 12,000, most federal air controllers have been without union representation. Now, just as the Federal Aviation Administration is preparing to lift the last of the strike-related traffic restrictions from the airways, three groups of controllers in New York and the Washington area have petitioned to reunionize. Their complaints: overwork and FAA mismanagement,...
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