Can public workers strike?

[W_HAMILTON]

I seem to get varying answers to this. Is there a law on the federal level, or just several different laws at the state level?

[Paradoxical]

1. "PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RIGHT TO STRIKE: LAW AND EXPERIENCE"

"Although most states adhere to Roosevelt's philosophy and prohibit public employee strikes, times have changed. In 1970, Hawaii and Pennsylvania became the first states in the nation to grant their public employees a statutory right to strike. 3 Since then, courts in several jurisdictions have interpreted state public employee collective bargaining statutes to provide for public employee strike rights. 4 Two of the three most recent jurisdictions to adopt comprehensive public employee collective bargaining statutes, Illinois and Ohio, have granted public employees the right to strike. 5 In 1990, Alaska granted its teachers a right to strike for a two-year experimental period. 6 In 1992, the Alaska Legislature overrode the Governor's veto and made that right permanent. 7 Even ..."

https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&doctype=cite&docid=26+U.+Mich.+J.L.+Reform+313&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&key=d8a05c929e0fd7ba3abc204ed1ac8bc2

[W_HAMILTON]

2. Thanks for your response.

I was mainly wondering about the federal level, given the talk of a shutdown. It seems that there would have to be some conflict in preventing public workers from striking, all the while allowing a government shutdown that would prevent these workers from working.

[Paradoxical]

3. Here's the full paper.

http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=martin_malin

Kind of long. But I bet the answer to your questions are in there.