Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

62
Against the Wind
Kelly Candaele: The organizer for AFGE
(and later MEBA) covered the West,
where laid-back attitudes and a rightto-work
culture challenged his ability to
inspire interest in a labor union. / Japphire
1985
29
Apr.
the pain of watching friends lose their jobs. Returning
to the scopes was an eye-opener.
“Everybody was pulling together. Many, many
people commented that this was the way it was supposed
to be,” he says. Then the honeymoon between
controllers and management ended. “It reverted
back to the same old crap. Very little
changed from the time of the strike
until we formed a new union.”
One night Molen listened
to a colleague talking on the
phone with Skip Skirlick
from Los Angeles Center.
Molen got on the line, heard
about the organizing efforts,
and before long was talking
up a union in Salt Lake. Soon
after, AFGE’s Western states
organizer, Kelly Candaele, visited
the center.
The AFGE position was the tall,
thoughtful Irishman’s first union job. Initially,
Candaele was ambivalent toward the controllers
based on his strong feelings about people who cross
picket lines. But he knew a lot was at stake in air traffic
control, making the workers vulnerable without
a union. He also realized it would be symbolic for
the labor movement if several thousand controllers
organized again.
The Air Line Pilots Association announces the possibility of organizing
controllers. ALPA and AFGE discuss the proposition throughout the summer,
but in late August ALPA’s Master Executive Council votes against the
Molen’s philosophical outlook appealed to Candaele
and they hit it off. Selling AATCC was tough in
the West, though, given the region’s laid-back culture
and right-to-work ethic. Molen and Candaele also
found it hard to interest new-hires in their 20s, who
were earning good money and had little job experience
to put the working conditions in perspective.
The two traveled extensively together across
Utah and Colorado. Candaele knew that certain
personality traits and communication skills
were critical in the people who waved the organizing
flag. The upheaval from PATCO had
colored many controllers’ views of organized
labor. Candaele understood that the AFGEfinanced
team had to tread lightly, focus on
issues, and allay anxieties before they could
gain the trust of controllers.
He believed that Molen’s reflective, sincere
nature and “cowboy wisdom” fit the mold perfectly.
The covert nature of their efforts could turn
anxiety into anger for potential recruits at meetings,
some of whom felt trapped by poor working conditions
yet frightened of the potential consequences of
organizing. Molen was patient and calm.
One fateful incident helped to shape Candaele’s
view of the Montana native. Snow was falling while
they drove south along Interstate 25 back to Stapleton
Airport from Denver Center in Longmont. Candaele
nervously gripped the steering wheel whenever the
move. During the fall, John Thornton and Howie Barte seek interest from
other unions, including the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, which
had organized PATCO.