Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

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Against the Wind
Howie Barte: His appearance on ABC’s
“Nightline” in November 1985 helped
draw attention to controller understaffing
and poor morale. / Courtesy of Howie Barte
1985
As promised, MEBA publicly announced its
intentions in early December. Taking pains to clarify
the initiative for the public and controllers, DeFries
said: “Let me emphasize that this new air traffic controllers’
organization will indeed be new. It will not
be a disguised rebirth of the old PATCO. The new
union will be effectively and responsively geared to
serving the needs of this new generation of air traffic
controllers.” 7
Barte flew to Washington again to meet De-
Fries on December 5 and chart the new campaign. At
Barte’s request, two other key activists joined them:
Joe O’Brien from New York
TRACON, representing the
Eastern Region, and Dan
Keeney from Daytona
Beach Tower/TRACON
in the Southern Region.
The difference
from the AFGE meeting
was like night and day.
DeFries promised solid financial
backing and pointed
out an important distinction: The controllers would be
a full affiliate of the engineers’ union. Unlike AFGE’s
council arrangement, the new union would establish
its own structure and decide on policies without competing
against the interests of other workers.
“What do you want in return?” Barte asked.
Nov. Dec.
16
AFGE outlines further organizing activities, which solidifies the
belief among several controllers that the union does not intend
to commit adequate resources to finish the AATCC campaign. 2
“We don’t want anything,” DeFries said. “We just
want to see you guys organized. It’s good for labor.”
DeFries then asked Barte to quit the FAA and
become national coordinator for the new union.
“I’m an air traffic controller,” Barte replied. “My
goal is to get a contract—not a job.” He suggested
that DeFries ask John Thornton, whose controller
background and organizing experience made him a
perfect candidate.
Barte, Keeney, and O’Brien left MEBA headquarters
feeling elated. Much work lay ahead, but
the drive for a new union had been revitalized. Part
of their optimism stemmed from another helpful
boost three weeks earlier when ABC-TV highlighted
the controllers’ cause on its popular news program
“Nightline.”
The segment aired near the end of a year in
which 1,500 people had died in plane crashes around
the world. The worst in the United States occurred
on August 2 nd , when a Delta Air Lines L-1011 plummeted
to the ground after encountering wind shear
on final approach to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, killing
137. Ten days later, a Japan Air Lines 747 suffered
mechanical problems and limped along for thirty
minutes before plunging into Mount Ogura outside
Tokyo. All but four of the 524 aboard perished, making
it the deadliest single-plane accident in history.
The “Nightline” broadcast was prompted by a
midair collision three days earlier between a Nabisco
MEBA President Gene DeFries announces that the union will
organize controllers. In October, DeFries notified Howie Barte,
who had contacted the union for help, of MEBA’s intentions.