The Role of Military Forces in Public Sector Labor Relations

Abstract

This article examines the use of military forces as replacements in public sector strikes, a practice employed in over forty cases since President Nixon established the modern-day precedent by deploying troops in the 1970 postal strike. The author shows that, despite the dubious legality of Nixon's action, legal constraints on the President and particularly on the governors in this context are very weak. He argues that political and philosophical qualms about breaking strikes with military replacements may have more vitality as constraints, but they are subject to erosion if the appropriate role of military forces in public sector labor relations does not become a subject of public debate. Following an appraisal of the major policy options, the author concludes that the use of troops as strike replacements is primarily a political rather than legal problem.