Fewer than nine months into his presidency, Reagan fired more than 11,000 striking air traffic controllers after warning them to return to work. By law, federal employees are forbidden to strike.
鈥淕overnment cannot close down the assembly line,鈥 said Reagan. 鈥淚t has to provide without interruption the protective services, which are government鈥檚 reason for being.鈥
Reagan himself had been the president of a union, the Screen Actors Guild.