Helllooooo, PATCO

When President Ronald Reagan fired all striking PATCO air traffic controllers in 1981, Ron Taylor didn't take it too seriously at first. "I thought maybe they would let us come back. They didn't. I had to learn a new way to make a living," he said. For the past 22 years, Taylor has been an electrical contractor. "That's my job," he said. "But pushing iron was my profession."

Taylor is now the PATCO Local 6081 president. The 1981 controller firing bankrupted the union. The government decertified it as the representative for America's thousands of air traffic controllers. But PATCO, an AFL-CIO affiliate, survived. Today, Ron Taylor says, PATCO is back.

For the first time since decertification, PATCO will send a representative to Capitol Hill on September 18th to testify in House Aviation Subcommittee hearings regarding the privatization of control towers.

Although the Reagan administration fired PATCO controllers and banned them from re-applying, the order was lifted by Bill Clinton in 1993. And still, most of the senior PATCO members couldn't get a government job.

"I was labeled a striker," said Taylor from his home in Florida. "I figured we were blackballed for life." But he says the truth was a bit more insidious. After the government lifted its ban on rehiring PATCO controllers, Taylor said he suddenly became too old and too experienced for the FAA. "They weren't hiring any of us above Level 9 (a senior pay grade). "I don't think I'll ever be allowed back in the tower," he said in an exclusive ANN interview. "They (the government) will hire all these young guys. I'm 56. I'm a certified instructor. But they won't hire me."

So PATCO has filed suit in Miami federal court, accusing the government of breaking its own rules on age discrimination. The judge is now deciding whether to certify the lawsuit as a class action. The case goes to trial April 21, 2004.

Until then, Taylor continues to work on furthering PATCO's cause -- mainly, to get its 1200 remaining controllers into towers around the country. To that end, Taylor said, he's more than happy to send someone to Washington for next week's subcommittee hearing on privatization. Is turning towers over to contractors a potential boon to PATCO? Taylor said it is. "If they need more controllers, PATCO will provide them."

Learn any lessons from the strike and firing in 1981? Oh, yeah, said Taylor. "Never back the other guy into a corner," like striking controllers did 22 years ago. "You've got to give the other guy wriggle room.

"But this is not the same PATCO as it was in 1981," he said. "Everybody deserves a second chance."

FMI: www.patco81.com