POSTAL UNION SAYS:
No safety, no work
By G. Dunkel
Buried under all the news about the most recent case of
inhalation anthrax was a strong statement by Bill Burrus, newly
elected president of the 360,000-member American Postal Workers
Union, telling his members not to enter infected
facilities.
Since doctors disagree on how much anthrax is needed to
cause an infection, Burrus said, "I'm telling my members we
will not work in contaminated facilities. We will leave the
building until it's tested clean."
The post office has tested 278 facilities nationwide for
anthrax, and so far 21 have been found contaminated. Some
20,000 postal workers have been prescribed antibiotics as a
precaution. Two postal workers in Washington have died and a
number of others have been made sick by anthrax since
contaminated letters began appearing in October.
Burrus said having mail workers with masks and gloves do
their jobs while hazardous materials experts are cleaning up
nearby "is not sound medical procedure, and psychologically is
an absolute disaster."
This is exactly what happened at Morgan Station in
Manhattan. Morgan handles most of the mail delivered in that
borough, about 12.5 million pieces a day. If it were closed
down, as some facilities were in New Jersey, the post office
would have had major problems providing service.
"It's a continuing concern that so much uncertainty
continues to exist regarding the source of these infections,"
said Burrus. He said even a negative test "did not give me
total comfort."
Reprinted from the Dec. 6, 2001, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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