I'm not sure where you expect to go with this, but here's my experience as an interested bystander. I was about 13 when the strike happened. Two of my older cousins were ATC's, one at PWA and the other at OKC. They stayed on the job. At the time, I obviously didn't know much about any of it, but had it explained suscinctly by one cousin (now OPS Mgr at OKC ATCT , maybe with some kind of role at the FAA Academy), "it was against the law."