This Month in NATCA/ Labor History
Thursday, October 25, 2012

NATCA History

Oct. 22, 1984: AFGE files a petition for AATCC New England, requesting a regional unit when 40 percent of all controllers signed petitions.

Oct. 17, 1989: A 7.1 magnitude earthquake strikes the Bay Area during a World Series game at Candlestick Park between the Giants and the Athletics. Tower cab windows break at San Francisco and San Jose airports, but controllers remain on position.

Oct. 26, 2000: The FLRA certifies NATCA as the exclusive bargaining representative of the Hawaii Air Guard and Defense Dept. air traffic controllers.

Oct. 22, 2010: NATCA, in a Federal Labor Relations Authority ballot count the day before, wins the right to represent the 2186 Series Aviation Technical Systems Specialists employed at the Federal Aviation Administration’s three largest regional offices.

Oct. 20, 2011: NATCA congratulates its worldwide partner, the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations (IFATCA), on its 50th anniversary.

Labor History

1871: Thirty of the city's 185 firefighters are injured battling the Great Chicago Fire, which burned for three days.

1914: President Woodrow Wilson signs the Clayton Antitrust Act — often referred to as "Labor’s Magna Carta" — establishing that unions are not "conspiracies" under the law. For the first time, unions are freed to strike, picket and boycott employers. In the years that follow, however, numerous state measures and negative court interpretations weaken the law.

1927: Work begins on the carving of Mt. Rushmore, a task 400 craftsmen would eventually complete in 1941.  Despite the dangerous nature of the project, not one worker died.

1945: A strike by set decorators turns into a bloody riot at the gates of Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, Calif., when scabs try to cross the picket line. The incident is still identified as "Hollywood Black Friday" and the “Battle of Burbank."