ALLEN PARK (WWJ) -- Local congressional leaders are demanding answers after the death of a Downriver postal service worker goes unnoticed for hours.
U.S. Representatives Debbie Dingell and Rashida Tlaib sent a letter to Postmaster General David Steiner asking for a timeline of events from last Saturday when 36-year-old maintenance worker, Nicholas Acker of Trenton, was killed after being trapped inside a mail handling machine at the USPS Detroit Network Distribution Center in Allen Park. His body wasn't found for more than eight hours.
Dingell and Tlaib want to know why it took so long for anyone to notice Acker missing, how frequently workers are checked on by supervisors, as well as what proper training and safety protocols entail.
“We are requesting answers to questions that have arisen from this unnecessary tragedy,” the lawmakers conclude. “We worry what it means for the workers that officials were not called to the scene until hours after Nicholas died. Further, we are concerned how long Nicholas was in the machine before he was found and whether the machine was operating or turned off.”
They say both Acker and union management mentioned concerns over how the distribution center was being run more than three months ago. Acker was a nine year veteran of the Air Force and had recently gotten engaged.