TIL Reagan once fired all the ATC's

[MongGrel]

I need to pay attention more? *points at self. You need to pay attention more! *points finger at you.

Too fucking funny.

 

[Brian Stirling]

No, he's right, except that Reagan was worse than Bush.

Not possible!

No fan of Ronny Raygun, but he didn't push us into an elective war that is even now, more than a dozen years later, creating misery in many places in the world. Invading Iraq for a second time will be remembered as the single biggest foreign policy error in our nations history and second place isn't in the running...


Brian

 

[Rakehellion]

What a fuckup.

 

[Red Squirrel]

They do this in Canada all the time now, if a company goes on strike the corporation can just cry to the government and the government forces them back to work. Sucks that this is a thing because it means corporations can do (or not do) whatever the hell they want to their employees without any repercussions. Want to cut pay by half, go right ahead, what are they going to do, strike? They can just be forced back to work or fired, and then good luck trying to find a job in this crappy job market.

 

[marvdmartian]

Yup, remember that. Ever since then, if you're hired into federal civil service, they make sure you read and sign a statement that tells you that you're subject to immediate dismissal, if you go on strike.

Federal workers are still allowed to walk a picket line (while not on duty hours, or while on leave), and still enjoy plenty of rights under the various union agreements, but going on strike isn't one of them.

 

[Greenman]

ATC's broke their contractual obligations, and got fired for it. This is how the world works, unless you're a banker or celebrity.

 

[CA19100]

I'm really curious what these guys were upset about. Was it work conditions or a money thing?

Money was a big part of it. A friend of mine was part of that strike, and lost his job during the firing.

It wasn't so much the salary, but the fact that they were being forced into overtime that was unpaid. See, at the time, their pay checks that came every two weeks were limited to 1/26th of their annual salary cap. If a controller worked 60 hours in two weeks, he only got paid for that. But if he worked 100 hours (which he had no choice about), he'd only get paid for 80, because anything more took him over the cap. He worked 20 extra hours for absolutely no extra money.

 

[Sonikku]

If Obama had fired Davis for not doing her job the Republican base would have been all up in arms over it.

 

[Darwin333]

Yet another reason Reagan was a dick and a crappy President. If W hadn't come along, Reagan would have been the worst President in my lifetime.

So they should have been allowed to break their own agreement and quite literally hold the entire country hostage? They could demand $6M a year, 20 hour workweeks, 3 months of vacation and we'd basically have zero choice but to bow to their demands?

It's akin to letting the military strike when we are at war. You just can't have that kind of shit.

 

[Sonikku]

If youre going to forbid someone from striking because their job is so important, you better make sure youre treating them well.

Yeah but... They should do it anyway for the feel...good... feeling?

Yeah, but it's more complicated than that. It's a highly specialized field where you need certain skills & abilities to do it, so it's not like quitting Burger King to go work at McDonalds, you know? Plus they currently are well paid (well over $100k a year on average). And it's not always just about the money. I have a lot of friends who are EMT's and aside from the rush they get from doing it, even though they get paid like crap to save people's lives, they get a lot of satisfaction from being legitimately useful to society. I think it's the same thing with this type of job...it's a crazy job & you're responsible for hundreds of people's lives at any given moment, but you are actively contributing to keeping people from dying, which I'd imagine is a pretty cool feeling.

 

[werepossum]

I remember when that happened. That was before CNN and Fox News, so pretty much the whole country was "YEAH RONNIE! YOU STICK IT TO 'EM!"

Today, you'd have one side of the news calling him a Commie, the other side calling him Jesus, and no matter what he did it would be wrong.

Yup.

There isn't a term/group in America that needs a rebrand as much as unions. Union is now a four letter word in America, and worker wages have sucked because of that.

I don't have an answer for a replacement though. The obvious other choice (confederacy) won't work for other reasons.

I think this is because the most visible unions are the very corrupt (AFL/CIO or autoworkers) and the government employees' unions which are basically unopposed in their demand most of the time. If more people were exposed to trade unions, which (usually) work just fine and compete with non-union shops, or with unions such as coal miners' which still address life and death issues, then more people would have a positive view of unions.

I think you're in the minority on that one bud Even the democrats liked Reagan

Yep. But after almost thirty years of unrelenting attacks, his image is quite tarnished among those too young to have lived through his Presidency. Or even better, his and Carter's. It's good to control the media and academia, you get to pretty much rewrite history.

 

[IronWing]

Yep. But after almost thirty years of unrelenting attacks, his image is quite tarnished among those too young to have lived through his Presidency. Or even better, his and Carter's. It's good to control the media and academia, you get to pretty much rewrite history.

I lived through his presidency. Reagan was a filthy murderous, treasonous prick. We aught to dig him up and give him the Cromwell treatment.

 

[werepossum]

I lived through his presidency. Reagan was a filthy murderous, treasonous prick. We aught to dig him up and give him the Cromwell treatment.

lol M'kay . . .