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William Burrus
William Burrus is President of the American Postal Workers Union. The APWU represents the largest single bargaining unit in the United States, which consists of more than 280,000 clerk, maintenance and motor vehicle employees working in 37,000 facilities of the U.S. Postal Service. The APWU also represents workers in private mail transportation and equipment companies.
Burrus is the first African-American to be elected president by the membership of a national union in direct referendum balloting. In 2001, he was elected to the Executive Council of the AFL-CIO, where he serves as a Vice President.
Over his long career, Burrus has held numerous positions within the APWU and in other representative organizations. He was elected APWU national Executive Vice President in 1980 and served in that position until he was elected president in 2001. (He was re-elected in 2004 and 2007.) From 1974 to 1980, he served as President of the Cleveland OH APWU Local.
Burrus began his employment with the United States Post Office in 1958 as a distribution clerk in Cleveland, and was a participant in the Great Postal Strike of 1970.
Each year since 2002, Ebony magazine has named Burrus one of the 100+ Most Influential Black Americans.
Burrus is a member of the Executive Committee of the Union Network International, a global federation of unions that represent postal and other service workers. He also serves on the Federal Advisory Council on Occupational Safety and Health.
William Burrus was born in Wheeling, WV. After graduating with honors from Lincoln High School, he attended West Virginia State College. He volunteered to serve in the 101st Airborne Division and 4th Armored Tank Division of the United States Army from 1954-1957.
Burrus and his wife, Ethelda, reside in southern Maryland. He has four daughters: Valerie, Doni, Kimberly and Kristy, one stepson, Antwon, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
APWU President William Burrus
Telephone: 202-842-4250
ABOUT THE
APWU PRESIDENT
The American Postal Workers Union’s top officer is its president, William Burrus. The president has overall responsibility for the operations of the APWU, as directed by the Constitution and Bylaws.
