PATCO Strike of 1981: Its Impact and the Civil Service Reform Act

This essay examines the 1981 PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controller’s Organization) strike and its relationship to the Civil Service Reform Act. The PATCO strike, triggered by disputes over pay, working conditions, and FAA management, was met with a firm response from President Reagan, who viewed the strike as illegal and subsequently fired thousands of air traffic controllers. This action was seen as a landmark event in the labor movement. Simultaneously, the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 aimed to modernize federal employment practices by replacing traditional selection methods with a merit-based system. The essay references the New York Times in describing the act as the most sweeping change since the reform act of 1883. The analysis explores the rationale behind Reagan's actions, the implications of the strike, and the broader context of civil service reform in the United States.

Running head: PATCO STRIKE OF 1981 AND THE CIVIL SERVICE REFORM ACT
PATCO Strike of 1981 and the Civil Service Reform Act
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Author Note

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PATCO STRIKE OF 1981 AND THE CIVIL SERVICE REFORM ACT
The PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controller’s Organization) strike of 1981
The PATCO is a trade union that was functional from 1968 until its decertification in 1981 after
the illegal strike being struck down by the Reagan’s administration. The New York Times
labelled it as the most historic move in the labour movement of the country (Nytimes.com,
2018). The reason behind PATCO’s strike of 1981 are multiple. The Union negotiated deals with
the Federal government regarding better pay for their jobs, reduced time for work and planned
retiring plans; however, the actual reason can be the autocratic management of the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) (de Lange, 2017). The air-traffic controllers went on strike
against the Civil Aviation administration, which is an agency under the U.S department of
transportation. However, the federal government prohibited striking and made it illegal.
Reagan’s administration issued ultimatum to the union. The Federal government struck down the
strike and fired 11,359 air traffic controller (Round, 2015).
Rationale behind Reagan’s action
The rationale behind Reagan’s quick and indecisive action was to set an example of a tough
Presidentship within the U.S context. It is not to be derived that Reagan as a president was
against the labor movement. Strike was considered illegal which led to the forceful stoppage of
the strike even though Reagan himself was a supporter of the Labour movement in the earlier
phase of his political life.
The Civil Service Reform Act
The civil Service Reform Act was passed because of the demand for changes in the management,
employment and the structure of the civil service in the Federal government. The CSRA of 1978
replaced mode of selection with the merit-based appointment (Brewer et al., 2016). The New

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PATCO STRIKE OF 1981 AND THE CIVIL SERVICE REFORM ACT
York Times has labelled this reform act as the most sweeping change in the since the reform act
of 1883(Brewer et al., 2016). It replaced the early system of U.S civil service commission with
the merit-based system along with the Personnel management department of the Federal
government.

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PATCO STRIKE OF 1981 AND THE CIVIL SERVICE REFORM ACT
References
Brewer, G. A., & Kellough, J. E. (2016). Administrative values and public personnel
management: reflections on civil service reform. Public Personnel Management, 45(2),
171-189.
de Lange, S. (2017). Thoughts on Ronald Reagan and the implications of the 1981 air traffic
controllers strike (Master's thesis).
Nytimes.com (2018). Opinion | Reagan vs. Patco: The Strike That Busted Unions. [online]
Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/opinion/reagan-vs-
patco-the-strike-that-busted-unions.html [Accessed 26 Dec. 2018].
Round, M. (2015). Grounded: Reagan and the PATCO crash. Routledge.