Postal union joins Chelsea anti-war action

Members of Chelsea Neighbors United to End the War and the NY Metro Area Postal Union stand up against the Iraq war on Eighth Ave. and 24th St. on Tuesday evening.

By Jefferson Siegel

Chuck Zlatkin is a man of his word. An organizer of Chelsea Neighbors United to End the War, Zlatkin has said on more than one occasion that “we’ll be out here every Tuesday night until the war is over and the troops are home.”

This past Tuesday marked the group’s 95th consecutive gathering from 6 to 7pm—rain or shine—at Eighth Ave. and 24th St. It was also unique in another way: Members of the 8,000-strong NY Metro Area Postal Union participated in the vigil and endorsed the goals of the Chelsea group.

Clarice Torrence, president of the union, came down from the union’s Chelsea headquarters on W. 31t St. with several executive officers to stand-up with Zlatkin and other local residents.

“This is long overdue for this union to take active participation in bringing an end to this war,” Torrence said as people began arriving for the weekly event. “We’ve decided that this is the time to do it.” Torrance’s union membership is widespread throughout Manhattan, the Bronx and northern New Jersey. “I’m here on behalf of my union,” Torrence said, adding that a majority of the union membership shares her view.

Thousands of postal employees work in Chelsea at the Morgan sorting facility, the James A. Farley building on Eighth Ave., the NY Truck Terminal on W. 15th St., and the Old Chelsea and London Terrace post offices. The New York local is part of the American Postal Workers Union, which boasts over a quarter-million members nationwide.

“The union’s gotten involved in opposing the Iraq war in a very real way,” said Zlatkin, a member of the union’s executive board and a shop steward. It has endorsed Congressman Jerrold Nadler’s resolution, HR 455, the “Protect the Troops and Bring Them Home Act of 2007,” which calls for limiting funding for expanding the war while providing money to protect troops during withdrawal. Nadler joined the Chelsea group’s stand-up last December. State Senator Tom Duane and Assemblymember Richard Gottfried have also attended previous Tuesday night vigils.

Torrence is troubled by the war’s effect on her members. “We know now, on a personal level, people are beginning to feel the impact because of the cuts in health care benefits and lack of proper funding for education,” she explained. “Our members have to spend their own money out of their pockets for injuries on the job because all of the money, all of the resources are in a war that we shouldn’t be in.”

By Tuesday night, 3,188 U.S. troops had died in the conflict. Almost 24,000 have been wounded. The war’s cost now approaches half a trillion dollars.

“I thought it was very important for our members to realize that we exist in this entire world, not just in the Post Office that they sit in, that we need to be involved in what makes this a better world for us all,” Torrence observed.

Zlatkin’s determination hasn’t ebbed. “The 95th week is an amazing thing on one hand, and very sad on another. We’ve learned that this connects to people in a very real way. Sometimes it takes people 95 weeks to see us. This is a Chelsea event; this may be the Chelsea event to some people,” he said.

“We’re here every week because we realize this is how you connect to people in a very real way,” Zlatkin added.

Kate Abell, an active participant in the stand-up, has lived in Chelsea for almost 30 years. “It’s a shame that we’ve had to be out here this long when it’s so clear things are only going from bad to worse,” Abell said. “It was the wrong thing to do to begin with, and we’re just perpetuating that wrong by being there. More people the age of my sons are dying. This is a small way to stand up and say, we’re going to be part of the solution.”

As cars honked their horns in support, Torrence spoke favorably of Chelsea Neighbors United. “I think it’s a wonderful organization. It’s helped to bring to light information that people should have known a long time ago, and it’s been a determining factor in a majority of this country now realizing that this war is totally wrong,” she said.

Chelsea Neighbors United to End the War came into formation as a result of protests at the 2004 Republican National Convention, which was held a few blocks north at Madison Square Garden.

Last January, a contingent of CNU traveled to Washington, D.C., for a massive anti-war march. Next Sunday, March 18, which will mark the fourth anniversary of the start of the war, a CNU contingent and members of the NY Metro Area Postal Union will join a midtown New York anti-war march. They plan to meet at 1 p.m. at 39th St. and Sixth Ave.