New York postal union seeks injunction

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The New York metro postal union will file for a preliminary injunction in federal court Friday, seeking quick action on its lawsuit to shut down mail facilities that test positive for anthrax, a union attorney said.

VIDEO U.S. investigators are trying to keep up with the growing number of people testing postitive for anthrax. CNN's Eileen O'Connor reports (October 31) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   MORE STORIES • Q&A about anthrax decontamination    EXTRA INFORMATION • Anthrax through the ages

"We're moving forward and asking for a hearing on Tuesday," said attorney Louie Nikolaidis.

Anthrax was found on four delivery bar code sorting machines in the Morgan Mail Processing and Distribution Center last week.

The union's lawsuit, filed Monday afternoon, asks the court to force the Postal Service to shut down Morgan and other mail facilities where anthrax spores are found and to require anthrax testing of all facilities that have received mail that went through Morgan.

A similar lawsuit has been filed in Florida.

In a news conference Wednesday, several union officials and postal workers expressed frustration with the situation.

"In Washington, D.C., they tested police dogs, but they won't test the workers at Morgan station," said Dennis O'Neill, a Morgan employee and co-plaintiff in the lawsuit.

"Not one piece of mail is worth a human life," said union President William Smith.

Union field officer Mike Steinberg said the Postal Service's distribution of antibiotics to the 5,000 employees at Morgan is not enough.

"Don't just give them Cipro," he said. "First test them and see if they have this horrible disease."

The Morgan facility is open while decontamination is being done on two floors. Only a 150,000-square-foot area around where anthrax was found has been closed off.

Postal Service Area Vice President David Solomon said the agency was acting on advice from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.