Public Employee Strikes

The phenomenon of the strike is most evident in state and local government. Only postal workers and PATCO members have actively defied the prohibition on strikes by employees of the national government. Strike activity increased dramatically during the 1960s, but in more recent decades, there have been fewer strikes, relative to the number of employees covered by bargaining agreements.
How the affected public reacts often predicts the success or failure of this union strategy. Sometimes it may even be difficult to say whether a strike has actually occurred. Because strikes are prohibited almost everywhere, a job action of some kind may take another form. One hears of the “blue flu” afflicting substantial numbers of police officers or the “red rash” affecting firefighters-all on the same day.
Job action is any action taken by employees (usually unionized) as a protest against an aspect of their work or working conditions. This includes, but is not limited to, strikes or work slowdowns. What constitutes an actual strike against government employers may not be as easy to determine as one might think. The count would be far higher if all types of job actions were surveyed, though that too would pose some difficulties.