Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

64
Against the Wind
Some controllers
regarded professional
organizations such as
ALPA and the AMA as
the perfect role models
for their budding
union.
1985
2
Aug.
controller relaxed and listened while they explained
his labor rights under the law.
A knock sounded at the door. They all looked
over and saw a reporter and TV cameraman peeking
into the room. “Is this the group of controllers who
are trying to organize a union?” the reporter asked.
“Can we come in and
film?”
“No,” the organizers
replied in unison.
But the edgy controller
was already hustling
out the door.
Interest from
an Interloper
On April 26, 1985,
the day before the deadline
for the FAA to appeal
the ruling that authorized
regional unions, the agency filed a two-page
statement. This predictable move further delayed an
election until the full FLRA reviewed the case.
The following Monday, however, controllers
and AFGE organizers awoke to surprising
news. ALPA President Henry A. Duffy announced
that his union, an AFL-CIO affiliate representing
34,000 pilots at forty-eight airlines, planned to
A Delta Air Lines L-1011 crashes after encountering wind shear during
final approach to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. The accident kills 134 of the
163 people aboard the plane and one on the ground. DFW’s Low-Level
“
The AFGE effort is dead in the
water, it is not moving, and
time is of the essence.
organize the controllers.
ALPA First Vice President Thomas Ashwood
said the pilots were keen on accelerating the drive
because they wanted the controllers’ input on a
$10 billion program to overhaul the air traffic control
system.
“The AFGE effort is
dead in the water, it is not
moving, and time is of the
essence,” Ashwood said. 6
— ALPA First Vice President
Thomas Ashwood
Some controllers
regarded professional organizations
such as ALPA
and the American Medical
Association as the perfect
role models for their budding
union. They admired
how the organizations
emphasized brains over
brawn and cooperation
rather than conflict.
But while ALPA was financially sound, well
organized, and exercised significant influence in the
industry, fundamental disputes periodically erupted
between controllers and airline pilots. Many worried
about how the disagreements could be resolved
within the same organization.
ALPA’s interest also raised a legal issue. Article
20 of the AFL-CIO constitution frowned upon com-
Wind Shear Alert System did not record the turbulence until after the
crash, demonstrating its limitations. Raytheon Company develops Terminal
Doppler Weather Radar to provide improved alert capability.