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NABET, Guild Members Weather Anthrax Scare
The nation’s anthrax scare forced some of CWA’s NABET and Newspaper Guild members in New York City to be tested for the disease in October, and CWA is cautioning all members to be careful handling mail.
No CWA members had tested positive for anthrax as the CWA News went to press. But many were unnerved by the experience, union officers said.
“Instead of being notified by the company (ABC Television), I was notified Monday night by members who were panicking, asking me if they should stay home,” said Tony Capitano, president of NABET-CWA Local 51016.
The ABC incident began Oct. 15, when health officials announced that the infant son of a freelance employee in the World News Tonight area was infected with skin-contact anthrax. Cutaneous anthrax is a far less serious form of the disease than inhaled anthrax, which had killed two postal workers in Washington D.C. and a Florida photo editor by late October. Several other postal workers were hospitalized with it.
Capitano said about 100 of the 900 NABET-CWA members at ABC were tested. No trace of anthrax was found in the ABC building on New York’s Upper West Side, and no one in the building tested positive for exposure, making the baby’s case that much more of a mystery.
Still, Capitano said he’s angry about the way the company handled the situation, delaying communications and testing. “It was an opportunity for management to shine, but the fact is they were dull and lackluster. They created more anxiety than there needed to be,” he said.
The local has been meeting with the company to ensure workers’ safety on many fronts, prodding them to increase security and test, clean and secure the air filtration system.
The situation has been better for NABET-CWA members at NBC, although communication lagged at first, Local 51011 President Lou Fallot said. The news broke Oct. 12 that a letter addressed to Tom Brokaw was found to contain anthrax, infecting his assistant with the cutaneous form of the disease. But no exposure was found among the other 1,300 employees who were tested, including hundreds of NABET-CWA members.
“They actually erred on the side of caution,” Fallot said of NBC. “We have some issues about when they released the information and we’re going to meet with them about it, but after that, they really did respond. They had people come in on the weekend for tests and they paid them.”
Fallot said that even after the Centers for Disease Control and the city’s health department cleared the third floor of the studio building where the letter was delivered, the company kept it closed. The area was scrubbed thoroughly, but NBC waited to reopen it to ensure that all traces of anthrax and the chemicals used to clean were gone. “They’ve really gone the extra mile,” he said.
Meanwhile, Guild members and other employees at the New York Times were evacuated after the paper’s bioterrorism reporter, Judith Miller, received an envelope containing white powder. It was later determined to be a hoax.
TNG-CWA President Linda Foley reminded members that management is required to meet with its union about any health or safety issue, and urged members to immediately call for policies and procedures to ensure safe handling of mail. “Our locals must address what now appears to be a growing threat to workers’ health and safety,” she said.
No CWA members had tested positive for anthrax as the CWA News went to press. But many were unnerved by the experience, union officers said.
“Instead of being notified by the company (ABC Television), I was notified Monday night by members who were panicking, asking me if they should stay home,” said Tony Capitano, president of NABET-CWA Local 51016.
The ABC incident began Oct. 15, when health officials announced that the infant son of a freelance employee in the World News Tonight area was infected with skin-contact anthrax. Cutaneous anthrax is a far less serious form of the disease than inhaled anthrax, which had killed two postal workers in Washington D.C. and a Florida photo editor by late October. Several other postal workers were hospitalized with it.
Capitano said about 100 of the 900 NABET-CWA members at ABC were tested. No trace of anthrax was found in the ABC building on New York’s Upper West Side, and no one in the building tested positive for exposure, making the baby’s case that much more of a mystery.
Still, Capitano said he’s angry about the way the company handled the situation, delaying communications and testing. “It was an opportunity for management to shine, but the fact is they were dull and lackluster. They created more anxiety than there needed to be,” he said.
The local has been meeting with the company to ensure workers’ safety on many fronts, prodding them to increase security and test, clean and secure the air filtration system.
The situation has been better for NABET-CWA members at NBC, although communication lagged at first, Local 51011 President Lou Fallot said. The news broke Oct. 12 that a letter addressed to Tom Brokaw was found to contain anthrax, infecting his assistant with the cutaneous form of the disease. But no exposure was found among the other 1,300 employees who were tested, including hundreds of NABET-CWA members.
“They actually erred on the side of caution,” Fallot said of NBC. “We have some issues about when they released the information and we’re going to meet with them about it, but after that, they really did respond. They had people come in on the weekend for tests and they paid them.”
Fallot said that even after the Centers for Disease Control and the city’s health department cleared the third floor of the studio building where the letter was delivered, the company kept it closed. The area was scrubbed thoroughly, but NBC waited to reopen it to ensure that all traces of anthrax and the chemicals used to clean were gone. “They’ve really gone the extra mile,” he said.
Meanwhile, Guild members and other employees at the New York Times were evacuated after the paper’s bioterrorism reporter, Judith Miller, received an envelope containing white powder. It was later determined to be a hoax.
TNG-CWA President Linda Foley reminded members that management is required to meet with its union about any health or safety issue, and urged members to immediately call for policies and procedures to ensure safe handling of mail. “Our locals must address what now appears to be a growing threat to workers’ health and safety,” she said.