Didn’t the Air Traffic Controllers union support Reagan?
Reagan warned them not to strike against the public safety, but they felt entitled and did it anyway. I think he gave them 72 hours to report for duty or their jobs would be declared vacant. Something like just under 40% of them reported back to work; the remainder gambled that he was kidding. He wasn't. There was a lot of overtime while new people were trained, but no major safety incidents. It was one of Reagan's finest moments and the public almost unanimously supported him.