This Week in NATCA/Labor History
Sunday, April 24, 2011



THIS WEEK IN NATCA HISTORY:

April 28, 1981 — PATCO contract negotiations stall: Union representatives walk out of contract talks with the FAA after 37 bargaining sessions. The Office of Management and Budget opposes PATCO demands for a 32-hour workweek and a separate federal pay scale for controllers.

April 29, 1985 — ALPA considers organizing controllers: The Air Line Pilots Association announces the possibility of organizing controllers. ALPA and AFGE discuss the proposition throughout the summer, but in late August ALPA’s Master Executive Council votes against the move.

    During the fall, John Thornton and Howie Barte seek interest from other unions, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the American Federation of Teachers, the Communications Workers of America, the Teamsters, and the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, which had organized PATCO.

April – May 1988 — NATCA/FAA labor relations: A joint NATCA-FAA labor-management training course, called “Partners in Problem Solving,” begins. Three-day sessions take place in the New England Region starting April 19 and May 3. Sessions are also held in the other regions throughout the spring and summer.

April 28, 1993 — NATCA’s second contract: The union begins briefing the membership on its tentative, four-year contract with the FAA after two years of negotiations. The new pact contains 88 articles. Article 83 gives NATCA locals the right to determine their own seniority policy, which is subsequently changed to a national policy.

April 26, 2000 — NATCA organizing: The FLRA certifies NATCA as the exclusive bargaining representative for 274 FAA regional office employees in the Logistics, Finance, and Computer Support divisions.

April 27-29, 2000 — Eighth NATCA biennial convention: More than 800 delegates attend the meeting at the Egan Convention Center in Anchorage.

    Moves to revisit the seniority plan and dues structure are voted down. The delegates approve an honorary lifetime membership—the union’s sixth—for Cathy Meachum, a longtime associate member who created the NATCA Charitable Foundation with her husband, Darrell. The foundation raises about $17,000 at the convention.


THIS WEEK IN LABOR HISTORY:

1953: President Dwight Eisenhower signs Executive Order 10450: Security Requirements for Government Employment. The order listed “sexual perversion” as a condition for firing a federal employee and for denying employment to potential applicants.

1970: Congress creates OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The AFL-CIO sets April 28 as “Workers Memorial Day” to honor the hundreds of thousands of workers killed and injured on the job every year.

1993: First “Take Our Daughters to Work Day,” promoted by the Ms. Foundation, to boost self-esteem of girls with invitations to a parent’s workplace