Public Union: Public Enemy

"All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service," Roosevelt wrote. "It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management."

He didn’t stop there.

"The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations," Roosevelt wrote.

"The employer," Roosevelt’s letter added, "is the whole people, who speak by means of laws enacted by their representatives in Congress. Accordingly, administrative officials and employees alike are governed and guided, and in many instances restricted, by laws which establish policies, procedures, or rules in personnel matters."