"...Imagine if a one-week partial government shutdown led to plunging stock prices with calls to close the markets, panic among businesses that were not getting paid and a presidential declaration of a national emergency, including mobilizing the National Guard. This happened during a U.S. Postal Service strike in 1970..."
"...At the time, pay raises for postal workers were almost unheard of: After 21 years on the job, noted The New York Times, a letter carrier would only earn $2,266 more than their starting salary. Though unionized, postal workers were forbidden from negotiating for pay raises due to cost of living. There was no chance to earn overtime, and many workers had to find a second job to make ends meet..."
"...Only once before has there been a national postal strike. During a crippling two-week walkout in 1970, President Nixon called in federal troops, and discovered that soldiers could protect the mail but not deliver very much of it. Avoiding a similar calamity this week became the No. 1 item on the Government agenda...."
