Talkin' Union

Back when I was a rookie ­ no, not last week! ­ in 1982, I soon learned three things about being a messenger. One, it would really be great if we had our own union. Two, it would really be cool if there was annual international messenger competition. And three, I would never live long enough to see either of them. Well, miracles do happen ­ the Cycle Messenger World Championships are now a part of messenger life every summer.

And now a lot of us are seriously thinking about joining ­ or starting ­ a union. Although this is a complex issue, it often inspires very simplistic reactions by folks on all sides of the issue. So this is my attempt to help us understand the complexities.

One of the principles of unity is that though we don't always agree on everything, we should action on what we do agree on.

The March 6th Meeting

There were 30 of us at the Eagle's Drift Inn on Thursday March 6. I've never seen thirty messengers at a CMWC meeting or any other non-party event. There was a lot of discussion and we didn't agree on everything (should we ever?). But we did agree on the following:

Then we decided to do the SFBMA card thing, which hopefully everybody's familiar with by now. Our next meeting will be for all the cardholders to decide our next moves. So what are our options?

1. Make the SFBMA into a fighting organization. Yes! We can do it. It'll take much time and more effort and probably some paperwork too. But we'll be our own independent group. We can elect our own officers and vote on our own policies (including our own dues rates ­ so far a big fat zero dollars).

2. Teamsters Local 665 ­ the parking lot attendants (and other workers) union. Parking lot attendants are cool. Hey they've never bothered me when I cut through their lots. 665 represented Express bike messengers and drivers in 1988-90. Contrary to popular belief, the union did not ruin Express. The management of Express ruined Express. They were so stupid...how stupid were they? They were so stupid that I could write a book about it. There's just no calculating the depths of idiocy plunged by the yuppies who "managed" that company. Anyway, Local 665 dues were $6/month. Their present formula is 2 hours pay per month. For us they estimate $15/month. One of their business agents, Mark Gleason, grew up with longtime messenger Kai Bevington here in the City. Mark's brother Gerard ran Gold Mountain Courier in the mid-80s before Executive swallowed it up (along with many other companies).

3. Another union ­ Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has a reputation for representing off-the-wall workers. They're the union for the Lusty Ladies. The International Longshoremen and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) has a militant and progressive history. A major result of their victory in the 1934 San Francisco General Strike was that they were able to control their own hiring system. Under the pre-1934 hiring system employers discriminated against "older" (over 35) longshoremen. Sound familiar my fellow veterans? Other unions are also available.

So those are our organization options. What are our action options? If we want our bosses to recognize us, whether as SFBMA or as one of the established unions, we have three different tactics to choose from:

1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election process. Messengers sign cards stating that a certain organization will be their negotiating agent with their bosses. When enough cards are signed at a company then the cards are presented to the NLRB (a government agency) which then tells the company. The company then agrees to an election or hires union busting yuppie lawyers to delay the election. After months (or years) the election is held. If the labor organization wins, the company must then negotiate. But some companies have their anti-labor yuppie lawyers file challenges to the election results adding more months (or years) to the process. I've been through two of these elections in my life. They both took about four months from the time the cards were signed to the elections (and that was without delaying tactics by the bosses). The process is bureaucratic, slow and dilutes the energy of workers (many of whom quit or get fired during that time). I think it sucks.

2. The Third Party election process. Similar to the NLRB. Also starts with signature cards but another third party (often a professional mediator) trusted by both sides runs the election. Faster, less bureaucratic but both sides must agree to this process (with the NLRB, there is some force of law involved). After the election, the union or association begins negotiations (if it wins).

3. Strike for recognition. The messengers tell the bosses we want the SFBMA, or whatever organization we want, to negotiate with them. If they don't do so we walk out. Hopefully, our bosses will be reasonable (hey, it's happened before) but we should remember that just as every boss is willing to fire us the day they hire us, we should be willing to strike if it becomes necessary (yes that is a big IF).

The three processes listed above lead to negotiation. So what's that?

Negotiation is what gets us a contract, guaranteeing in writing, our commission rates, benefits, rights against dismissal and other issues. What we are able to negotiate is based on lots of future variables. There's no guarantee that we get benefits or increased income until we negotiate.

Sorry to complicate the issue (hey, it's already complicated) but the above processes can be done with one company or with all the companies at once.

What about goals? What do we want? Most of what we want is legally possible through negotiations. These subjects include commission rates, pensions, health plans, sick pay, paid vacations, grievance procedures, job security and other issues. Tag rates are technically not part of the negotiating process but a minimum pay for each tag is (as Aaron pointed out).This is a good way to increase tag prices without getting into a big legal headache.

Well, all of the above is basic information and I hope it helps all of you to better understand the situation. At this point a few of you may be interested in my opinion. Being a messenger since 1982 I believe we've earned a raise...a BIG raise and better benefits. I think we have to do it by ourselves through the SFBMA although I'm open to an established union. In 1988-89 I was at Express as a member of Teamsters #665.I think they did a decent job but the main lesson I learned was that we have to do this throughout the entire messenger business and it has to be by us messengers.

If you haven't gotten an SFBMA card yet contact Bok Choy, Wendy or me (Howard).We'll be having a meeting of all cardholders in the near future to determine our actions on these issues. Stay tuned, brothers and sisters.

­Howard

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