But the government had a card up its sleeve. JULIA SIMON: So this is Day 1 of the strike, and you might imagine that if the group of highly skilled people who are supposed to stop planes from crashing don't show up at work, that would essentially shut down the skies. RON PALMER: When he made that speech in that Rose Garden, I just felt betrayed, you know? You told us you were going to take care of this system and take care of us, and you didn't. If you don't get your butts in those little air traffic control towers in 48 hours. KENNY MALONE: Ron Palmer is watching this speech, watching this guy basically tell Ron, I don't care what kind of raise you and your colleagues want. Before the strike started, Palmer thought that Reagan was on his side. Reporters Kenny Malone and Julia Simon introduced us to one of the people who got fired on that day, Ron Palmer. INSKEEP: NPR's Planet Money produced a program about that event back in 2019. And that dealt a serious blow to the American labor movement. And two days later, on this day 40 years ago, Reagan fired more than 11,000 of those who hadn't crossed the picket line. The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Association (ph), PATCO, was protesting what they considered to be unfair wages and long work hours. ![]() ![]() And if you were on an airplane at the time, they were the most important people in the world. ![]() INSKEEP: The union represented around 13,000 people. RONALD REAGAN: This morning at 7 a.m., the union representing those who man America's air traffic control facilities called a strike. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan faced a test.
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