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Events on Wednesday 5 August 1981 1
1981US air traffic controllers strikeReagan fires thousands of striking PATCO controllersMembers of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization walked out on 3 August 1981 demanding better pay and working conditions. President Reagan declared the strike illegal and fired roughly 11,000 controllers who refused to return to work. The union was decertified and the action weakened the American labor movement for years afterward.