Word: patco
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...traffic continued to grow, so did the controllers' concerns about stress and safety, and so did PATCO. By the mid'70s, the union had nearly 15,000 members?all but 2,000 of the entire staff of qualified FAA controllers. The union grew increasingly militant as rank-and-file members felt that each new contract failed to meet their same old demands for more reliable equipment, less grueling shift schedules and more...
...turning point came last year when both Leyden and the union's longtime vice president, Poli, turned in resignations to PATCO'S executive committee in response to the mounting membership complaints. The board accepted Leyden's, but not Poli's. Explained Controller Vaughn...
Still, a strike seemed far from inevitable when negotiations between PATCO and the FAA began last February. Technically, the FAA is not like a private employer in such talks; anything it agreed to would have to be approved by Congress. Poli opened the bargaining by presenting 96 demands, a list the FAA's Helms understandably dismissed as excessive. Yet the union was truly serious about three of its concerns...
WORK WEEK. Poli sought to cut the five-day 40-hr. week back to a four-day 32-hr. schedule?a reduction the controllers seem to want more than pay increases. While they apparently would not accept a salary cut to compensate the Government for their reduced hours, most PATCO members see this issue as the key to lowering their on-the-job anxieties and enhancing safety. The Government at first refused to consider any shortened work week, fearing that similiar demands from other federal workers would start a budget-busting trend at a time of general spending cuts...
RETIREMENT. Claiming that controllers burn out faster than other federal employees, PATCO sought an earlier retirement age and higher pension benefits. At present a controller can retire with half pay at age 50 if he has worked for 20 years, and at any age after serving 25 years. Poli asked that retirement be permitted to any controller after 20 years of work and with 75% of his base salary. The Government adamantly opposed this demand as contrary to its entire drive to hold the line against future Government expenses...