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Postal union: Install safety measures
©Associated Press
© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 12, 2001
MIAMI -- The American Postal Workers Union wants a series of safeguards to help employees protect themselves from coming into contact with hazardous materials.
The union said Thursday it will ask President Bush to issue an executive order to stop the postal service's inbound international mail during time of war.
The union also wants to eliminate an order requiring window clerks to perform "shake and inspect" tests. Union general president Judy Johnson said the practice has been in place since Sept. 27. The union also opposes policies setting aside packages bound for airplanes that are heavier than 16 oz.
Johnson said the U.S. Postal Service has declined to provide employees with protective equipment such as gloves. She said the union is considering filing a federal lawsuit.
"They're using us as guinea pigs," Johnson said.
Postal Inspector Manny Gonzalez in Miami said officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have met with postal workers in South Florida to try to allay fears. He said procedures such as "shake and inspect" tests have been in place for several years.
"The postal service feels it is absolutely irresponsible and shocking to use a tragedy like this to cause panic and alarm among postal service employees," said Enola Rice, a spokeswoman for the South Florida District of the U.S Postal Service. "We place the safety of our employees as our highest priority."
Rice said the postal service delivers more than 208-billion pieces of mail every year and there never has been a case of hazardous materials, including anthrax, being transmitted through the mail.
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