The Air Controllers' Controversy

Learn from two insiders how the 1981 PATCO strike and the Reagan administration changed labor-management relations by sanitizing corporate reliance on strike-breakers, discouraging strikes, destroying a federal labor union, blacklisting over 11,000 striking air traffic controllers, and tilting power in favor of business from that time to this.

Arthur B. Shosta retired in 2003 after 42 years as a sociologist, the last 37 spent at Drexel University. He writes full-time and has added nine books since retirement to his list, bringing it to 31, along with more than 150 articles. He is a charter member of the new PATCO labor union affiliated with the OPEIU, AFL-CIO, and has written several journal articles to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1981 PATCO Strike. An advocate of ever more creative use by Labor of computer power, he continues to do research and publish on the topic at www.cyberunions.net. He welcomes feedback at shostaka@drexel.edu

David V. Skocik, trained in the military as air traffic controller, later worked for the FAA in New York until the 1981 strike. Like many of his former peers he has experienced a myriad of opportunities, including owning a small contracting business, serving as a college administrator and assistant professor, and emceeing annual community events, including an award-winning TV game show for Comcast since 1992. Since 2000 he has been a commercial insurance representative in Dover, Delaware, in addition to serving in the US Navy Reserve. He can be reached at dskocik@aol.com.