Burrus, William Henry “Bill” 1936

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William Henry “Bill” Burrus 1936–

Union activist, president of American Postal Workers’ Union

A union official from the early 1970s, in 2001 William Henry “Bill” Burrus became the first black president of the American Postal Workers’ Union (APWU) in the organization’s 220 year history and the first black American ever to be elected president of a national union. A popular leader among the 366,000 members of the APWU, Burrus won the ballot for president with 53 percent of the vote in a three-way race. His election marked a high point in an impressive career that included many union awards and over twenty years as the executive vice president of the APWU. In 2002 and 2003 he was listed by Ebony magazine as one of the 100+ most influential black Americans.

Born on December 13, 1936, in Wheeling, West Virginia, William Henry Burrus is the son of William and Gertrude Burrus. He graduated with honors from Lincoln High School and attended West Virginia State College. In 1954 he volunteered for military service, serving with the 101st Airborne Division and 4th Armored Tank Division of the United States Army for three years. With his wife Ethelda, he has four daughters and a stepson.

Like many veterans, Burrus joined the United States Postal Service on leaving the army in 1958. He worked as a distribution clerk in Cleveland, Ohio, and was involved in union matters from the start. He was involved with the Cleveland postal workers during the 1970 postal strike and in 1971 served on the committee that merged five unions into the APWU after the national restructuring of the United States Postal Service. In 1971 Burrus was elected director of education and research of Ohio State APWU. He rose to national attention in 1972 when he joined the national APWU human relations committee.

Burrus became national executive vice president of the APWU in 1980, after six years as president of the Cleveland APWU Local. He worked alongside popular president Moe Biller to make the union one of the most successful of all American labor unions at winning concessions for its members. Biller, who had been the driving force behind the 1970 postal service shutdown, retired at the age of eighty-five, handing over the presidency to Burrus at one of the most troubling times in the union’s history. Not only were the organization

At a Glance…

Born William Henry Burrus on December 13, 1936, in Wheeling, WV; married Ethelda; children: Valerie, Doni, Kimberly, Kristy, stepson Antwon. Education: West Virginia State College. Military Service: United States Army, 1954-57.

Career: Ohio State APWU, Director of Research and Education, 1971; Cleveland, OH, APWU Local, president, 1974-80; APWU, national executive vice president, 1980-2000, national president, 2002-.

Memberships: Cleveland Federation AFL-CIO, tabor delegation, 1977; Black Trade Labor Union, vice president, 1977; Civil Rights Committee, Ohio Advisory Board, 1979-81; A. Philip Randolph Institute, vice president, 1982-.

Selected awards: Ohio House of Representatives, 1981; Frederick O’Neal Award, 1981; A. Philip Randolph Achievement Award, 1982; Martin Luther King Center, Distinguished Service Award, 1989.

Addresses: Office —President, American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, 1300 L Street NW, Washington, DC, 20005.

and financing of the postal service under review, but the attacks of September 11, 2001, put postal workers on terrorism’s front line. Burrus received a decisive vote of confidence in his ability to rise to the challenges ahead, winning the ballot for president with over half of the votes cast in the three-way contest.

Within weeks of taking over the presidency, Burrus was called upon to testify before a U.S. Senate committee on the need to protect postal workers from biological warfare agents sent through the mail. He made an impassioned testimony, praising the bravery and dedication of postal workers who continued to perform their duties in the knowledge that two of their number had been killed by deadly anthrax spores and many others left seriously ill. He said: “The dedication and commitment of postal workers who have continued to work under these conditions is heroic…[they] are meeting the true definition of courage: despite their fear and concern they are performing their duties.” Burrus emphasized the need to close any postal facilities where anthrax spores were found until they had been fully decontaminated.

While the first few months of Burrus’s presidency were dominated by the threat from anthrax to postal workers, reform of the postal service itself was the theme of the following years. One of the Bush administration’s policies was to appoint a presidential commission to investigate and advise on reform of the United States Postal Service, viewed by many Republicans as an inefficient state-run monopoly. Burrus campaigned hard against the proposals which he argued threatened to remove the right of workers to negotiate on working conditions, erode pension rights for workers, and reduce the number of rural post offices.

In 2003 he headed a campaign against proposals aimed at streamlining the service. In his statement to the Special Panel on Postal Reform, House Committee on Government Reform in 2004, he argued that the administration’s proposals would roll back the clock to before the reforms of the early 1970s, leaving many rural areas with inadequate and costly postal services. Well aware of the need to reform the service Burrus has been faced with the difficult problem of safeguarding the hard-won rights of postal workers while allowing the postal service to adapt to twenty-first century conditions. But he has no illusions about the difficulty of the task. He told CBS news in 2002, not long after the commission was announced: “These nine individuals [on the commission] have nothing to do except show up, take the report out of their valises and present it to the American public… It’s a done deal.”

With his frank, no-nonsense style Burrus’s popularity in the APWU is unquestioned. His negotiations with the postal service over the safety of workers have proved him to be a skilful, untiring advocate and negotiator. The importance of such dedication was emphasized early in 2004 when postal service managers failed to inform workers of possible exposure to the poisonous chemical ricin, which had been sent through the mail to several prominent figures in Washington.

Besides his work on behalf of American postal employees Burrus is also involved in labor organizations with global influence. He sits on the executive committee of the Union Network International, an organization that brings together unions representing postal and service workers around the world. Burrus’s work will continue to influence the lives of thousands of postal workers and others throughout the world.

Sources

Periodicals

Ebony, May, 2002; May, 2003.

Jet, Dec 10, 2001.

New York Times, November 23, 2001.

USA Today, October 31, 2001.

Washington Post, October 28, 2001, p. A16.

On-line

American Postal Workers’ Union, www.apwu.org (April 20, 2004).

“Rethinking Snail Mail in 21st Century,” CBS, www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/11/national/main532605.shtml (April 22, 2004).

“Terrorism Through the Mail: Protecting the Postal Workers and the Public,” U.S. Senate, www.senate.gov/gov_affairs/103001burrus.pdf (April 20, 2004).

“Testimony of William Burrus, American Postal Workers’ Union, AFL-CIO, before the Special Panel on Postal Reform, House Committee on Government Reform,” American Postal Workers’ Union, www.apwu.org/Postal%20Commission/2004/Feb.5%20House%20Panel%20Testimony.htm April 22, 2004).