Simi Valley, CA – The U.S. Labor Department will induct former President Ronald Reagan into its Hall of Honor, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta announced Aug. 24. In a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum here, Acosta mentioned Reagan’s tenure as head of the Screen Actors Guild and his support for Poland’s Solidarity union as reasons he deserved a place of honor next to Eugene Debs, A. Philip Randolph, and Dolores Huerta. He did not mention Reagan’s mass firing of 11,000 striking Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization members in 1981 and his lifetime ban on rehiring any of them—a major turning point in the weakening of the U.S. labor movement since the 1970s. “This is no small insult to working people. It’s a slap in the face to all those people whom the Hall of Honor is supposed to honor,” the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees responded Aug. 25. “The decision to induct a union-buster to the Labor Hall of Fame is another telling example of where the priorities lie in the Trump administration.” Reagan’s nomination was requested by the Sergeants Benevolent Association of New York City, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Read more
