Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, Local 601, Anchorage, Alaska

The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) was founded in 1969. Since the members of this union were federal employees, the union and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were constantly at the bargaining table trying to create a satisfactory union contract. Among the issues discussed were working conditions, hours required, pay ceilings, and workers' rights. One of the central issues on which neither party could compromise was the workers' right to strike.

PATCO Local 601, Anchorage, Alaska, was chartered in 1975. By early 1976 it had eighty members spread thinly across the entire state. It had two goals: the first was to improve the working conditions for the air traffic controllers, and the second was to generate support at the local level for the national union. The officials of the local consistently supported the goals of PATCO. They urged the local members to join the national organization, always pointing out the advantages of group solidarity. Even though Local 601 always supported PATCO, it also expressed the feeling of being forgotten by national headquarters.

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