NEW YORK CITY
Postal workers rally against anthrax dangers
By G. Dunkel
New York
Eight hundred whistle-tooting postal workers demonstrated
after work in front of Manhattan's main post office on Dec. 8.
They demanded equal treatment with senators and Supreme Court
justices and a new, decent contract.
The workers feel that they're up against a double standard.
After anthrax spores were detected on the premises, the
government kept a Senate office building closed for months and
shut down the Supreme Court building for weeks so they could be
totally and thoroughly disinfected.
But when, at the same time, anthrax was found at Morgan
Station, the mail processing center for Manhattan, the bosses
just covered the contaminated machines with plastic wrap and
ordered workers to keep the mail moving.
A leaflet handed out at the Dec. 8 protest reported that at
least one postal employee who worked near the contaminated
machinery at Morgan Station--Juan Mercado--has been
hospitalized with anthrax-like symptoms.
Will Smith, president of the Metro New York Area Postal
Union that called the demonstration, said: "It is wrong for the
U.S. Postal Service and the [Centers for Disease Control] to
have postal workers exposed to this bacteria while they are
closing down" legislative and judicial offices in Washington,
D.C.
Postal workers at the rally compared the treatment they're
getting from their bosses regarding the health risks of anthrax
to the disregard management displays to the union in the
struggle for a new and decent contract.
Other postal unions, some public service unions, a Delta
flight attendant, the textile-garment union UNITE, and a
spokesperson for the New York Central Labor Council gave
messages of solidarity.
Reprinted from the Dec. 20, 2001, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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Email: ww@workers.org
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