Do public employees have a legal right to strike?

As a general rule (RCW 41.80.060), public employees have no legal right to strike or engage in a work stoppage. A “strike” is a partial or complete cessation of work. The term, therefore, includes slowdowns, brief boycotts, and “quickie” strikes as well as a prolonged work stoppage. The rule prohibiting strikes by public employees in other states has been held, without exception, applicable to strikes by public school teachers.

According to a 2006 opinion by then-Attorney General Rob McKenna, state and local public employees do not have a legally protected right to strike in Washington. No such right existed at common law, and none has been granted by statute.