NALC Mourns Slain Northern Ireland Postal Employee.

Business Editors

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2002

The National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO today expressed mourning and outrage at the sectarian murder of postal employee Daniel McColgan in Belfast, Northern Ireland on January 12.

Pro-British extremists, who go by the names Red Hand Defenders (RHD), Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) said in calls to the media they killed McColgan, 20, the father of a baby girl, for his Roman Catholic religion and as a postal worker. They further stated that their current priority targets are Catholic postal employees and school employees.

The RHD and UFF are on the lists of proscribed terrorist organizations put forward by the United States government and the European Union. The British government has struck them from its list of paramilitary groups observing the 1997 cease-fire in Northern Ireland.

NALC President Vincent R. Sombrotto said targeting workers for terror based on their religion has no place in any civilized society. "United States letter carriers understand what it means to be targeted for terror having been the victims of recent anthrax attacks," he said.

The NALC calls for responsible authorities and all citizens to take all necessary steps within the law to politically isolate and bring to justice those responsible for this murder, those who organize similar murders, and those who fund them. The union also called for an end to political and religious violence of all kinds in the Northern Ireland conflict.

"We stand in solidarity with Irish trade unions who have called strikes to honor McColgan's memory and to ensure public workers safety," Sombrotto said.