United States versus Professional Air Traffic Controllers
Please read the case and answer the 3 case questions.
United States v. Professional Air Traffic Controllers
Organization 653 F.2d 1134 (7th Cir. 1981)
State and federal employees have not always honored the
prohibition on striking. While many ignored the prohibition, probably the most
famous example occurred when the federal air traffic controllers, represented
by the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), went on
strike in 1981. One of the reasons the strike was so memorable was undoubtedly
because newly elected President Ronald Reagan took a hard line and terminated
11,000 striking employees.
PATCO Local No. 316 at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport demanded an
upgrade of the airport and a tax-freebonus of $7,500 for each air traffic
controller. The Federal Aviation Administration refused to meet thedemand. In
response, from August 6 to 15, 1980, PATCO conducted a unified slowdown of
airporttraffic which resulted in several delays. The United States sought an
injunction on August 18, 1980,and the action was dismissed. The United States
appealed from the district court’s decision holdingthat only the Federal Labor
Relations Authority, not the district court, had the authority to enjoin such a
strike.
Swygert, J.
Title VII of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 was
enacted to provide a comprehensive statutory scheme forthe regulation of
federal labor-management relations.The statute created a new, independent
agency, the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), which was tobe primarily
responsible for carrying out the purposes of Title VII. When Congress enacted
Title VII, it adopted the language of section 19(b)(4) of the Executive
Order[Executive Order 11491, as amended, which regulated federal
labor-management relations prior to enactment of the Civil Service Reform Act]
making it an unfair labor practice for a union “to call, or participate
in, a strike, work stoppage, or slowdown.” The reason for Congress’s
prohibition of strikes by federal employees was reiterated during the
congressional debates on Title VII:
The primary reason for Government services is to supply the
public with certain essentials of life which cannot reasonably be supplied by
the average citizen himself, or to him by private enterprise. Because these
services are essential to the health, welfare and safety of the public, it becomes
intolerable that they be interrupted. Dismissing or indicting the air traffic
controllers involved in the slowdown would not be a viable remedy for the
Government. First, terminating a substantial number of controllers would
seriously impair the FAA’s ability to provide the public with this essential
service;
this is precisely the sort of result that the statutory
provisions were intended to prevent. Second, indicting or terminating the
controllers after a strike does nothing to prevent the strike and the serious
consequences that would surely follow. Thus, the only remedy available to the
Government that can prevent a strike is an injunction we conclude that an
injunction is an available remedy. REVERSED and REMANDED.
There are also differences between the private and public
sector about what may be negotiated. While the U.S. postal workers may do so,
generally federal employees cannot bargain over wages, hours, or benefits. On
the other hand, they can bargain about the numbers, types, and grades of positions,
procedures for performing work or exercising authority, the use of technology,
and alternatives for employees harmed by management decisions.
Case Questions
1. In your opinion, based on the PATCO decision, should
public employees have the right to strike?
2. Do you agree with Congress’s assessment of why that right
is not provided to public employees?
3. Given the court’s language about the perils of
terminating the air traffic controllers, why do you think President Reagan did
so? What would you have done differently, if anything?
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