Reagan had his showdown with the air traffic controllers after its members had gotten involved in an illegal strike.
As a former Hollywood actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan supported the rights of federal workers to collectively bargain under somewhat different terms than those in Wisconsin. Reagan didn’t support their right to strike.
When Walker pursued Act 10, he did so not because public employee unions were violating the law or striking but instead because the governor saw them as holding up changes that he felt would benefit taxpayers and schools.
Via Gov. Scott Walker, Ronald Reagan, and two Republican stances on unions @ JS All Politics Blog.