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CNN Live At Daybreak

Update on New Jersey Postal Workers; Interview with William Smith, President of the New York Metro Postal Workers' Union

Aired October 29, 2001 - 07:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The anthrax letters may well have started their deadly journey in New Jersey. That's where health officials confirm another postal worker has been affected by the most dangerous form of anthrax.

CNN's Michael Okwu is there this morning -- good morning, Michael.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

That's right, the CDC and health officials here in New Jersey say that a female postal worker, a worker who is based here at the main processing facility in Hamilton Township, has come down with inhalation anthrax. Now, you'll recall that last week health officials here announced the fact that they suspected that there were two inhalation anthrax cases here. Lab results have come in and clearly have determined conclusively that she does, in fact, have inhalation anthrax.

We are told that she is in stable condition. The second potential victim of inhalation anthrax has been discharged from the hospital and we are told responding very well to antibiotics.

Now, in the meantime, anthrax was discovered at the Princeton Post Office, some 15 minute drive from here in West Windsor, New Jersey. Postal employees are deeply concerned that there is a fair amount of cross-contamination going on, so much so that, in fact, the New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith is urging the postmaster general to shut down all 48 central New Jersey postal facilities so that they can be cleaned and -- so that they can be tested and possibly decontaminated.

Now at this point, health officials in New Jersey say that there is no reason to believe that anyone at the Princeton facility was exposed to anthrax, but in the meantime they are setting up a clinic at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center in case employees there have any medical questions.

Now, our viewers may recall that at this particular facility in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, there are some 32 contaminated hot spots. Three contaminated letters were postmarked from here, including, of course, the now infamous Daschle letter. At this point, some 1,100 postal workers have been, have received nasal swab tests and we are told that five of those tests have come back positive. But that, of course, does not mean that they have come down with anthrax. It only means that they were exposed to the spores.

Now, officials here are telling those workers and all the other workers at this Hamilton Township facility who are undergoing antibiotic treatment to stop taking Cipro after 10 days and to begin taking Doxycycline, which we are told has fewer side effects.

In the meantime, this postal facility is still closed. The flag is still at half staff and we have no indication at this point when it will reopen -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Michael Okwu in New Jersey, thank you very much.

Across the Hudson River from New Jersey in New York, anthrax contamination at one mail facility is prompting one local postal union to threaten legal action and it may happen today.

The president of the New York Metro Postal Union, William Smith, is with us now to tell us a little bit more about this. Good morning, Mr. Smith. Thanks for being with us.

WILLIAM SMITH, PRESIDENT, NEW YORK METRO POSTAL UNION: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Tell us about the suit. Are you going to file it today and what will you contend in it?

SMITH: Well, I can't tell you what's going to be concerned, what the suit's going to be about in terms of legal procedures and the words of it. Only an attorney can do that, the law firm that represents the union. But I do know...

O'BRIEN: How about a layperson's version of it?

SMITH: Well, we do believe that the postal service is violating the people's safety and lives to let them go on in this building. As you know, that the Senate, Congress, the Supreme Court Justices all have been treated totally differently. And we do believe that they are taking these workers' lives as a joke. And we're going to proceed forward in the legal procedure. Somebody in this country is going to have to listen to what the workers is saying and demanding, that they be heard. And the law firm is going forward with that and the papers should be filed this afternoon in federal court.

O'BRIEN: Well, Mr. Smith, let me ask you this. As I understand it the management of the postal service has told your workers if they're concerned they can transfer out to another facility, for example. Is that not enough to ally your concerns?

SMITH: Well, they reneged on that. They changed their mind. They lied again. And I'm saying to you and to the world and to the American people it's time for the postal service to stop playing games with these workers' lives. We have...

O'BRIEN: So workers cannot transfer out if they have some concerns about this?

SMITH: That's correct. They are, they told at least three workers I know yesterday want to go to a job at the James Farrah Building, and they refused to let them go over there. They told them that they could not work on the third floor, they can go to another floor but they can't -- they will not let them go to another facility.

Elizabeth Powell is going to look into that today, the regional coordinator for APWU.

O'BRIEN: Now, over the weekend you, I believe you asked some of your membership to sort of take matters into their own hand and just not show up for work. How well did that work stoppage go from your perspective?

SMITH: Well, the postal service knows that the workers is refusing to go in that building because they feel for their safety and their lives. And it's taken an effect on the mail process in this building and the only thing I can say is that the workers must take their lives in their own hands. And the postal service asking them to go in that building that they have not even had checked out, have not had all the floors tested, to ask them for testing in all parts of the building and they are just consistently doing damage to these workers' lives and got these workers working in the field.

O'BRIEN: All right, but Mr. Smith, let me just -- to follow that up, as we understand it, only a very small percentage of your membership did not show up over the weekend. What does that tell you? Are they perhaps less concerned than you are?

SMITH: Well, let me ask you a question. Where did you get them numbers from? From management? Have you talked to any workers that's asked them how many people is inside that building?

O'BRIEN: Well, why don't you give me the numbers you have then.

SMITH: Well, so far we have in the last two days almost 1,000 people didn't show up and just on 202, 203 and 201. And this is on a weekend. The weekend is a lot of people have Saturday and Sunday days off. We know already that a majority of the workers is off on the weekend that work in this building, and we will find out from today and tomorrow what's going to take place and let's see what the numbers will look like.

We know for a fact that about 1,000 employees didn't show up for the last two days.

O'BRIEN: All right, that's 1,000 out of about 5,000 at your facility. Do you consider that a ringing statement of widespread fear among workers at the postal service or is there perhaps more faith in management than you would suggest?

SMITH: No, but I said to you the majority of workers have the weekend off. You have a lot of elderly employees that got Saturdays and Sundays off. So we have to see what happens today.

O'BRIEN: All right, we'll keep posted on that. Let me just ask you before you get away, is there a double standard here?

SMITH: Yes, there most certainly is a double standard. The "New York Times" say there might be some racism in it. If you read the "New York Times" yesterday's paper, it said that the facility in Washington, D.C. is a majority minority and we know in this facility it's 82 percent minorities work in this facility. The "New York Times" said it might be some racism in here.

So I want them all to understand and I want America to understand that the world is looking at this and they looking at it from a very view -- other view, that if that's the case that the "New York Times" is saying it, then we have another problem also, that we might have some racism involved.

O'BRIEN: All right, Mr. Smith, we're out of time. We will be checking in with you to see how this all plays out this week.

William Smith is the president of the New York Metro Postal Union. Thanks for being with us this morning.

SMITH: Thank you.

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