NATCA Going Down in Flames

On 12 Sep 2006 11:50:26 -0700, "bdl" wrote:

Jay Honeck wrote:
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Unbelievable! They're actually going to fight against their employer
for dictating what they must wear to work... Apparently their right to
look like bums in a professional setting has been violated, and the
union is going on the offensive!

I thought it was strange as well Jay, that a profession that considers
itself a very "professional" occupation (and is paid commensurately
with other professionals) dressed so shabbily. I know when I took a
tour of the STL TRACON I was surprised at how unprofessional some of
the controllers looked. It certainly didn't look like I was visiting a
place of business.

I'm not sniping at you, Brian, but your post gives me a junp-off point
for a rant:

Speaking as someone who was required to wear a jacket and tie from the
thrid grade through gradschool (well, except for 2 years in
highschool), I have to say I found it refreshing when the boomers
right behind me trashed a tradition that was clearly designed to
perpetuate stereotypes of "professionals" and "tradesmen."

They/we were, of course, almost immediately co-opted by the makers of
"designer" dungarees and so forth, but it was nice while tie-dying and
such was still a cottage industry.

At this point, it's all been taken over by big business -- to the
point where it's all part of a continuum, with even the most vulgarly
offensive crap being fronted in mass quantities in malls coast to
coast by outfits like Spencer Gifts.

So it's now just a different manifestation of what my father called
"regimented robots" when the nuns first proposed jackets and ties in
1952. But make no mistake -- outside the military, clothing has no
relationship to professionalism.

As an aside, it may have been in the same article, but I read recently
that the other rule the FAA put in place that has the union up in arms
is "no naps" while on breaks... Oh, and they have to stay at the
facility.....

Demonstrating precisely how "professional" they consider their workers
to be.

Don