Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

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Against the Wind
The Gilbert / Spickler Ticket
Fred Gilbert joined the FAA in 1969
and encountered his “first big lie”
from the agency during orientation at
Chicago Center. The academy in Oklahoma
City, he was told, would teach Gilbert
and the other new-hires how to think,
speak, and act exactly alike. In Gilbert’s
first class, however, he watched with
incredulity and unease when two instructors
nearly came to blows arguing about
phraseology.
After working as a controller for
seven years, he was promoted to the
Great Lakes Regional Office and soon
became associate administrator of the
Air Traffic and Airway Facilities National
Task Force.
Gilbert returned to the boards
after the strike, where his wariness over
unions waned as he endured his ill-fated
attempt to convene a national FAB conference
and realized the committees were an
FAA ploy “to placate Congress and controllers.”
Seeing that little had changed,
he joined the movement, was elected
Great Lakes regional rep, and traveled
extensively during organizing.
Hoping to steer NATCA toward
a more professional orientation than a
traditional labor bent, Gilbert threw
his hat in the ring for president. Fellow
Midwesterner Ray Spickler—who
regarded Gilbert as being level-headed,
decent, and likable—backed his candidacy.
The youngest of the four top contenders,
29-year-old Spickler grew up in
Kansas City, attended Catholic schools,
and studied chemistry for a while at
Rockhurst University, a Jesuit institution.
His chosen specialty did not inspire him,
however, and the strike turned his attention
to air traffic control. Spickler had no
qualms about applying to the FAA several
days after the walkout. He believed the
picketers broke the law and would not get
their jobs back.
By the summer of 1986, controllers
at Kansas City Center were talking
about a union, but only Spickler attended
an organizing meeting near the
airport. Among the handful of others
present were Jim Poole and Dan Brandt.
The group elected Poole as regional rep
and Brandt as his alternate. Poole was
transferring from Cedar Rapids Tower/
TRACON to Chicago Center that fall,
however, so Spickler was named second
Gilbert / Courtesy of Howie Barte Spickler / NATCA archives
alternate to prepare for the upcoming
vacancy.
After certification, talk turned to
NATCA’s first national election. Spickler
inherently distrusted Bell and Grundmann.
The two men from the coasts
“just hit me wrong,” Spickler says now,
though he adds: “I came to view New
Yorkers with a great deal of love and
respect. They supply the union with a lot
of energy.” He has also since resolved his
differences with Grundmann.
But others shared Spickler’s suspicions
at the time and fretted in particular
about the Eastern Region’s influence.
Spickler’s thoughts about running for executive
vice president solidified in Atlanta
after his speech opposing weighted voting
on the National Executive Board attracted
attention from delegates. Looking for a
vice presidential candidate to give the
Midwest and smaller regions a greater
voice, they encouraged him to run.
A week later, Spickler and Gilbert
agreed to form a ticket.