One of the most visible group of government workers hit by the partial shutdown are Transportation Security Administration workers, the TSA. And like other federal workers, they cannot strike in protest.
In 1981, federal employees tested that. Tens of thousands of air traffic controllers went on strike. They challenged President Ronald Reagan to address their working conditions, and the president gave them 48 hours to return to work. When they didn’t, he fired them all.
Today there are questions as to whether TSA — and other government employees — can strike now. Georgetown’s Joseph McCartin is an expert labor historian. He joined The Show to explain how this situation might be different.
