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                                 TOPIC OF THE MONTH

                                             ANTHRAX

Several months ago many of us had probably never even heard of or knew anything about anthrax. Boy did we ever get a quick education!  For most of us it has forever changed our lives. It has put postal workers on the front lines in our battle against terrorism.

The Postal Service plays such a vital and important role in the countries communication network, a network that includes every household and company in the country. This role that we play has gone unnoticed and has been taken for granted by the general public for too long.

The introduction and use of biological weapons on the general public and the fact that the Postal Service, which has access to every American household, was used to serve as a means to disperse it caused widespread panic, fear and anxiety throughout the entire country. No one was able to escape it. The entire country including every government agency from the FBI, CIA, The Center for Disease Control, the whole medical community along with every agency responsible for emergency response were caught off guard. Postal officials were totally baffled. No one knew what to do. Confusion and panic ruled. The news media with their continuous coverage whipped the whole country into a total panic. Nothing even close to this has ever happened before. Capitol Hill was virtually shut down, people were afraid to open their mail. Postal workers were on high alert, protective gloves and mask were issued to every worker. Postal facilities were tested, everyone was on the lookout for suspicious parcels and letters. Stress, anxiety and fear gripped every postal worker. Anthrax was found in several facilities and many, but not all were closed. There were several cases of inhalation anthrax and we lost two of our co-workers.

Unlike the offices in Washington, where our elected representatives worked and where the Supreme Court met, which were all closed, many postal facilities which tested positive remained open. The often chaotic response of postal management and the lack of a coordinated, uniform response, outraged many union officials and rank and file workers.

 The obvious disparate treatment that postal workers received compared to the treatment given to government officials and workers in Washington, both shocked, astounded and outraged many workers. Anyone who was under the illusion that all Americans regardless of class are treated the same, got a quick education.

The rich and powerful are treated one way and the working class, are treated in an entirely different way. No one can deny that now.

THIS MAKES UNIONS AND THE ROLE WE PLAY ALL THAT MORE IMPORTANT!!!!

While the unions like everyone else were caught totally off guard. They banded together with Postal Management to show unity and to try and calm the anxieties of postal workers. At the time, that may have appeared to be the correct thing to do. In retrospect, and let me add that it is always easier to look back after the fact and see things differently. Our intent here is not to point the so called, finger of blame.

We hope to critique the events and actions that transpired and learn from them. With that said, perhaps in the future the unions should band together, pool their resources, bring in their own independent experts to make their own assessments and evaluations and put forth a plan of action that puts the safety and health of our members first and foremost, regardless of the effect that such actions will have on “the business”

The show of unity with the company and attempts to calm the fears and anxieties of the workers was intended to protect and benefit the company at the expense of the safety and health of our members.

We’re not blaming anyone for the actions that were taken. We were facing unknown dangers and no one had any clear and precise answers or solutions.

But if we fail to critically analyze and assess what happened and perhaps learn from any mistakes that were made and if we fail to properly prepare for any future incidents, then we are failing in our responsibility to properly protect our members

What do you think? Please feel free to post your comments or opinions on our bulletin board. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

                                                     ____________________________________________

                                                     Grady R. Fitzgerald Branch President NJI-BMC Branch

                                                                           Local 300 N.P.M.H.U.