Dear Air Traffic Controllers Union, Love and Kisses, Ronald Reagan

What a nice letter...

I have been briefed by members of my staff as to the deplorable state of our nation's air traffic control system. They have told me that too few people working unreasonable hours with obsolete equipment has placed the nation's air travelers in unwarranted danger. In an area so clearly related to public safety the Carter administration has failed to act responsibly.
You can rest assured that if I am elected President, I will take whatever steps are necessary to provide our air traffic controllers with the most modern equipment available and to adjust staff levels and work days so that they are commensurate with achieving a maximum degree of public safety....
I pledge to you that my administration will work very closely with you to bring about a spirit of cooperation between the President and the air traffic controllers.
Sincerely,
Ronald Reagan

Nervous breakdowns and suicides were treacherously high for air traffic controllers. Every outside look verified that they were in horrendously pressurized working conditions with responsibility for peoples' lives using out dated and failing equipment.

Once elected President...Reagan destroyed the air traffic controllers and their union.

PATCO leaders were hauled off to jail for ignoring court injunctions against a strike. The Justice Department proceeded with indictments against 75 controllers. Federal judges levied fines amounting to $1 million a day against the union while the strike lasted. Over 11,000 strikers received their pink slips, while 1,200 went back to work within a week's time. Morale among the strikers was shaky. "I thought Reagan was bluffing," lamented one controller. In October the Federal Labor Relations Authority decertified PATCO.

Once the strike was broken, Reagan refused to rehire the trained and experienced men and women. He did essentially meet all of their demands for new equipment and procedures after he fired them for begging.

This is the Ronald Reagan that Conservatives love. A miserable bastard if ever there was one...but he had such a nice smile.

Peace