The Right to Strike in the Public Sector: Two Case Studies

Abstract

The question as to whether or not the public employee should be granted the right to strike has become an increasingly important question in recent years. The swell in the number of public employees and increased militancy and strike activity in the public sector adds greater importance to this controversial question. There has been a substantial increase in the number of government employees in recent years, accompanies by a sharp increase in the number of public employee strikes. Almost every level of government has experienced some strike activity. The increase in public employee strike activity has become a growing part of the political reality in the United States. At the present time, most public employee strikes are illegal.