Another Option in Dealing with Activists

Too often Ken Klippen, National Egg Farmers, hears from politicians who are seeking a “compromise” with animal activists.  It happened again just recently in a conference call and also with a Nevada state legislator get support from a “major egg association” in drafting a cage-free bill.  Ken Klippen recalled what happened in the egg industry when in 2012 the national egg legislation (a compromise with HSUS and UEP) was proposed. Klippen stated in 2012 that this not the way to deal with activists and every other national farm group banned together to defeat UEP and HSUS legislative effort including our group of egg farmers.   https://schrader.house.gov/newsroom/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=322893

All this “compromising” reminded Klippen of another leader who refused to compromise with activists.  On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan showed there is no compromising with activists.  That day he began firing 11,359 air-traffic controllers striking in violation of his order for them to return to work. The air-traffic controllers went on strike after negotiations with the federal government to raise their pay and shorten their workweek proved fruitless. Across the country, some 7,000 flights were canceled. The same day, President Reagan called the strike illegal and threatened to fire any controller who had not returned to work within 48 hours. Robert Poli, president of the Professional Air-Traffic Controllers Association (PATCO), was found in contempt by a federal judge and ordered to pay $1,000 a day in fines. On August 5, President Reagan carried out his threat, and the federal government began firing the 11,359 air-traffic controllers who had not returned to work. In addition, he declared a lifetime ban on the rehiring of the strikers by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). On August 17, the FAA began accepting applications for new air-traffic controllers, and on October 22 the Federal Labor Relations Authority decertified PATCO. The end result is that no more did air-traffic controllers seek to change their pay and workweek.  If only egg farmers did the same thing with activists.