William Henry Burrus (December 13, 1936 – May 19, 2018) was an American labor union leader. Born in Wheeling, West Virginia, Burrus studied at West Virginia State College, then joined the United States Army, serving in the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

and the 4th Armored Division. In 1957, he left the army, and became a distribution clerk with the United States Postal Service, based in Cleveland. Burrus joined the American Postal Workers Union. He took part in the

U.S. postal strike of 1970 The U.S. postal strike of 1970 was an eight-day strike by federal postal workers in March 1970. The strike began in New York City and spread to some other cities in the following two weeks. This strike against the federal government, regarded a ...

, and was elected as president of his local union. While in this role, he became the founding president of the union's National Presidents Conference, and led a movement in 1978 which successfully rejected a collective bargaining agreement which would have limited cost-of-living increases. In 1980, Burrus was elected as executive vice president of the union, leading negotiations with the postal service. In 2001, he was elected as the union's president, the first African American to become leader of a national union through a direct ballot of the union membership. As president, he campaigned against government efforts to worsen postal workers' pay and conditions, and following the

2001 anthrax attacks The 2001 anthrax attacks, also known as Amerithrax (a portmanteau of "America" and "anthrax", from its FBI case name), occurred in the United States over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 ...

, campaigned for safer working conditions. Burrus also served as a vice-president of the AFL-CIO. He retired from all his posts in 2010, and died in 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burrus, William 1936 births 2018 deaths American trade union leaders People from Wheeling, West Virginia Trade unionists from West Virginia Vice presidents of the AFL–CIO Military personnel from West Virginia West Virginia State University alumni