PATCO strike
E765870
The PATCO strike was a pivotal 1981 walkout by U.S. air traffic controllers that led President Ronald Reagan to fire over 11,000 workers, dramatically weakening the American labor movement and reshaping labor relations for decades.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| PATCO strike canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T8921417 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: PATCO strike Context triple: [American labor movement, hasKeyEvent, PATCO strike]
-
A.
1970 United States postal strike
The 1970 United States postal strike was an unprecedented nationwide walkout by postal workers that disrupted mail service and led to major reforms of the U.S. postal system.
-
B.
Paterson silk strike of 1913
The Paterson silk strike of 1913 was a major labor uprising in Paterson, New Jersey, where thousands of silk mill workers, supported by radical labor organizers, walked out to demand better working conditions, pay, and control over the pace of work.
-
C.
1968 Ford sewing machinists strike
The 1968 Ford sewing machinists strike was a landmark industrial action by female workers at Ford's Dagenham plant that helped catalyze equal pay legislation in the United Kingdom.
-
D.
Pullman Strike
The Pullman Strike was a landmark 1894 nationwide railroad workers’ strike in the United States that highlighted deep labor tensions and led to significant federal intervention in industrial disputes.
-
E.
Pittston Coal strike
The Pittston Coal strike was a major late-1980s labor dispute in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky, where coal miners represented by the United Mine Workers of America staged prolonged protests and civil disobedience against the Pittston Coal Company over cuts to health and retirement benefits.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: PATCO strike Target entity description: The PATCO strike was a pivotal 1981 walkout by U.S. air traffic controllers that led President Ronald Reagan to fire over 11,000 workers, dramatically weakening the American labor movement and reshaping labor relations for decades.
-
A.
1970 United States postal strike
The 1970 United States postal strike was an unprecedented nationwide walkout by postal workers that disrupted mail service and led to major reforms of the U.S. postal system.
-
B.
Paterson silk strike of 1913
The Paterson silk strike of 1913 was a major labor uprising in Paterson, New Jersey, where thousands of silk mill workers, supported by radical labor organizers, walked out to demand better working conditions, pay, and control over the pace of work.
-
C.
1968 Ford sewing machinists strike
The 1968 Ford sewing machinists strike was a landmark industrial action by female workers at Ford's Dagenham plant that helped catalyze equal pay legislation in the United Kingdom.
-
D.
Pullman Strike
The Pullman Strike was a landmark 1894 nationwide railroad workers’ strike in the United States that highlighted deep labor tensions and led to significant federal intervention in industrial disputes.
-
E.
Pittston Coal strike
The Pittston Coal strike was a major late-1980s labor dispute in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky, where coal miners represented by the United Mine Workers of America staged prolonged protests and civil disobedience against the Pittston Coal Company over cuts to health and retirement benefits.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
air traffic controllers strike
ⓘ
labor dispute ⓘ labor strike ⓘ |
| abbreviation |
PATCO
ⓘ
linked to:
PATCO Speedline
|
| aftermath |
greater emphasis on strikebreaking strategies by employers
ⓘ
increased use of military controllers as temporary replacements ⓘ rebuilding of air traffic control workforce with new hires ⓘ |
| cause |
breakdown in contract negotiations
ⓘ
demands for higher pay ⓘ demands for improved working conditions ⓘ demands for shorter workweek ⓘ dissatisfaction with stressful working environment ⓘ |
| consequence |
decertification of PATCO
ⓘ
lifetime federal employment ban for fired controllers ⓘ long-term weakening of U.S. labor movement ⓘ mass dismissal of striking air traffic controllers ⓘ precedent for aggressive federal response to public-sector strikes ⓘ short-term disruption of U.S. air traffic ⓘ strengthening of employer leverage in labor relations ⓘ |
| country |
United States
ⓘ
linked to:
United States of America
|
| employer |
Federal Aviation Administration
ⓘ
U.S. federal government ⓘ
linked to:
United States government
|
| governmentResponse |
decertification of the union by the Federal Labor Relations Authority
ⓘ
use of injunctions and legal action against the union ⓘ use of replacement workers ⓘ |
| historicalSignificance |
key episode in Reagan-era economic and labor policy
ⓘ
symbol of decline of organized labor power in the United States ⓘ turning point in late 20th-century U.S. labor relations ⓘ |
| industry | aviation ⓘ |
| keyEvent |
Reagan ultimatum to return to work within 48 hours
ⓘ
mass firing of striking controllers ⓘ |
| laborUnion | Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization ⓘ |
| legalBasis |
Taft–Hartley Act
ⓘ
federal ban on strikes by government employees ⓘ |
| legalStatus | illegal under U.S. federal law ⓘ |
| location |
United States
ⓘ
linked to:
United States of America
|
| numberOfWorkersFired |
approximately 11500
ⓘ
over 11000 ⓘ |
| occupation | air traffic controller ⓘ |
| opponent |
Ronald Reagan
ⓘ
U.S. federal government ⓘ
linked to:
United States government
|
| relatedTo |
Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization
ⓘ
Ronald Reagan ⓘ U.S. air traffic control system ⓘ public-sector unions in the United States ⓘ |
| sector | public sector ⓘ |
| startDate | 1981-08-03 ⓘ |
| year | 1981 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: PATCO strike Description of subject: The PATCO strike was a pivotal 1981 walkout by U.S. air traffic controllers that led President Ronald Reagan to fire over 11,000 workers, dramatically weakening the American labor movement and reshaping labor relations for decades.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.