re: #31 De Kolta Chair

What’s truly sad is how many conservative and corrupt (pardon the redundancy) unions continued to endorse Raygun after that shameful act. Thank the gawds for the reformist union movement of the 90’s and aughts, which weren’t reported about by most of the press.

You weren’t here the last time we discussed the PATCO strike, but at the time I made the case that Reagan’s actions in that matter were not shameful at all. His administration had negotiated in good faith with PATCO and he honestly wanted a deal. But the rank-and-file air traffic controllers rejected the negotiated agreement and then the House Democrats opened up an investigation into if the proposed deal was a too-generous quid pro quo, as PATCO had endorsed Reagan in 1980.

With the House investigation, the Reagan administration couldn’t sweeten its proposed deal, and so the union voted to strike. More details here and in the book the site supports.

Long story short, the 1981 PATCO strike was really more about PATCO than Ronald Reagan. But the myths of the strike, both right and left, focus on Reagan, owing to the considerable influence his legacy still has.