When the NLRA was being drafted and debated in the 1930s, a central question was whether or not compulsory unionism should apply to government employees. The growing pool of government employees made a tempting target for union organizers, but there was great opposition for a number of reasons.
First, opponents of mandatory collective bargaining for government employees argued that compulsory unionism would threaten public safety. Forcing military leaders to bargain collectively with armed forces personnel unions, for example, would pose a serious threat to the effectiveness of the national defense. A union contract that specified how military personnel should perform would take the discretion and flexibility away from commanders who were required to act creatively and decisively at a moment s notice. And what would happen, they asked, if Air Force pilots threatened to strike during war time, or local police or firefighters staged a walkout, threatening the safety of their communit