Labor organizations of employees who work for government agencies have grown and proliferated since World War II. After 1970, as the private economy shifted its orientation from industrial to white-collar and service sector employment, and non-union and foreign competition erupted, traditional union membership plummeted, while public employment and public sector unions grew rapidly. By the end of the 1980s, less than 17 percent of American workers were organized, yet in some cities, 90 percent of public workers were represented by unions. Some are conventional unions, while others are professional organizations that have evolved from civil service associations or police fraternal organizations. They have substantial African American and Latino membership, many of whom are employed as teachers in public schools and nurses in public health.

Although the right to organize for federal and almost all state and local employees is protected by law, public sector unions and employees are often precluded from striking by federal and state laws. Punishments include fines levied against unions and individual strikers, dismissal of strikers and imprisonment of union leaders. Restrictions on public employee strikes have been justified under legal theories that emphasize state sovereignty and the governmental duty to protect the general welfare, public health and safety, and by the essential nature of transit, health, sanitation, fire fighting and police services.

Demands continue for selective limitations on strikes, since employees performing similar functions in private industry may strike and many public employees, for example, librarians, and workers in state and national parks are not essential to health and safety.

Unlike in some European countries, there is little tolerance in America for strikes, especially by public employees. President Ronald Reagan’s 1981 discharge of striking government-employed air-traffic controllers crystallized a resurgence of anti-unionism.

Because of sanctions and the lack of public support, tactics of temporary slowdowns, sickouts and the threat of strikes have generally replaced actual strikes. Strike threats ensure enormous mass media coverage and are usually effective in imposing pressure to bargain effectively and to reach contract settlements before deadlines.

Public sector unions have learned that they can succeed by exercising political power and applying their resources to influence public opinion. Most were strong supporters of the Civil Rights movement. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated while in Memphis to support a sanitation workers’ strike. More recently, teachers unions have led the opposition to school vouchers. Generally favoring liberal Democratic Party positions, they use lobbyists, research publications, political contributions, members as campaign workers, and members voting power to influence elections and the decisions of politicians who control the appropriations and budgets on which public employee salaries and benefits depend. Adversaries, in turn, brand them as special interest groups seeking narrow gains incompatible with the welfare of the public their members serve.