A Peril to the Nation

"Although a conservative, Reagan often argued that private sector workers’ rights to organize were fundamental in a democracy. He not only made this point when supporting Lech Walesa’s anti-Communist Solidarity movement in Poland; he also boasted of being the first president of the Screen Actors Guild to lead that union in a strike. Over time, however, his crushing of the controllers’ walkout—which he believed was justified because federal workers were not allowed under the law to strike—has helped undermine the private-sector rights he once defended."

Joseph A. McCartin in The New York Times remembers Ronald Reagan and the 1981 air-traffic controllers' strike.