Postal Union Protests Show Title Equating Job With Violence

By ARI PAUL

A postal union leader has asked the Comcast Corporation to halt broadcasting a show whose title made postal work synonymous with violent and criminal behavior.

WILLIAM BURRUS: An affront to postal workers.

E! Entertainment is airing a show called "Going Postal: 15 Shocking Acts of Violence." The term "going postal" was coined in the mid-1980s to mean becoming overcome with anger after a string of fatal actions by postal workers on the job.

'Stigmatized by Stereotype'

In a letter May 13 to Comcast chairman Brian Roberts, American Postal Workers Union President William Burrus called the show's title "disturbing" and said it sullied the memories of postal workers who have died on the job.

"The title of the series is an affront to more than 700,000 hard-working postal employees who are stigmatized by the cruel stereotype that suggests that postal workers are violent sociopaths," he said. "Of course, statistics show that postal employees are no more likely to engage in acts of violence than the public at large."

Cites Their Virtues

An APWU spokeswoman said last week that the union had not received a response from Mr. Roberts.

Mr. Burrus continued, "America's postal employees take great pride in the service we provide to our fellow citizens - often under difficult circumstances. In recent years, postal employees have been resolute, sorting and delivering mail in the face of anthrax attacks, bomb-laden mail boxes and natural disasters."