Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

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Against the Wind
Special recognition: NATCA issued gold
cards and charter member pins to the
more than 3,000 controllers who joined in
the first year after union certification.
1987
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quarters not far across town, and gathered with FAA
officials in a large conference room. Numerous large
bags stuffed with ballots were clustered around several
tables occupied by FLRA staff members. As the
tabulating began, agency and union volunteers removed
the ballots from their envelopes using electric
letter openers supplied by MEBA to expedite
the process. Repeated murmurs
of “yes” and “no” started rebounding
throughout the
room. Once counted, the
workers bundled the ballots
in packets of fifty and
stacked them on two tables
at one end of the room.
Watching from
the sidelines, Gary Molen
paced while puffing
nervously on a cigarette.
A comment from his facil- i -
ty manager, who’d spoken with Molen just before he
flew to Washington, came to mind: “When you guys
lose it, I want to be sure we have an all-hands meeting
and we’ll shake hands. There’s no hard feelings
and we’ll try to work things out.”
But Molen knew it was an empty gesture and
he dreaded a difficult relationship should the vote
for a union fail. He listened to the FLRA workers at
the closest table and winced while they repeated “no”
June July
more often than “yes.”
“This doesn’t look good,” he said. Still pacing,
Molen lit another cigarette. “Oh, God, this doesn’t
look good.”
Standing nearby, Karl Grundmann finally snapped:
“Would you shut up. You’re driving me crazy.”
Ed Mullin was preoccupied with similar
thoughts. An anonymous telephone caller had told
him before he left for D.C., “It’s going to be a long ride
home if this doesn’t work out.” Mullin responded:
“You’ve been wrong every step of the way. My bet is
you’re wrong now.” Nevertheless, he felt unsettled as
he watched the counting proceed.
Morning edged into afternoon without a formal
lunch break and the stacks on the “yes” table gradually
mounted. In time, they dwarfed those on the
“no” table. The controllers smiled and nudged each
other while the FAA managers grew increasingly
subdued. Eighty-four percent of the work force cast
ballots. After the last one was counted, the tally stood
at 7,494 to 3,275—a margin of 70 percent, exactly as
Thornton had predicted.
Thornton and the board members shook
hands, hugged each other, and tried to keep mum
about the victory as they shouldered past a thicket of
reporters outside the building. The official announcement
would be made at MEBA headquarters. But they
couldn’t contain their ear-to-ear grins and Barte discreetly
gave one reporter a thumbs-up signal.
The FLRA officially certifies NATCA as a union. FAA Administrator Donald Engen leaves office after serving
since April 10, 1984.
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