Reagan Fires Air Traffic Controllers (1981)

It’s August 5th. This day in 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired more than 11,000 air traffic controllers, who had gone on strike over failed negotiations for a new contract. In addition to firing them, he banned the workers from ever holding federal jobs again.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how this moment reflected and shifted a moment when American unions were in decline and employers — both at the federal and private level — were being emboldened in their negotiations with workers.

Find a transcript of this episode at: https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory

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Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Julie Shapiro, Executive Producer at Radiotopia