BMA's and Unions
 

by joe hendry

The other night I came across a movie about the origin of the NHL Players' Association. Apparently in the 1950's and earlier, professional hockey players were paid a paltry sum, received no benefits and had few options. They had to agree to whatever the owners wanted. If a player was traded he had to pay his own moving expenses. The owners claimed they made no money and they even stole the players' pension fund. In short the owners practiced a pattern of deceit and secrecy.

When the players led by Detroit's Ted Lindsay began to organize they met with a labour lawyer. He told them they had to form a union. The players responded that a union was out of the question. Unions had such a bad reputation that the players chose to form players' association. At their inaugural press conference the new NHLPA was attacked by the press as "commie union bastards". Eventually the association became a union and standards improved for the players.

Bike messengers like hockey players generally would prefer to stay away from unions. Instead we too have formed associations. But both bike messenger associations (BMA's) and unions primarily exist for the same reasons - to improve the lot of messengers. Unions do it through bargaining and binding contracts. BMA's prefer to exert pressure on owners by informing the messenger community about their rights and hoping that the threat of a union will influence owners to comply with their legal responsibilities.

While BMA's are extremely important to couriers and they serve the messenger community in many ways, their influence on the owners is limited. Owners view the BMA as a club or a small group of messengers who want to, but are unable to form a union. A common misunderstanding that the public, (including owners), have about messengers is that we do what we do because we can't do anything better. I recall a few situations where people told me that I could find a cheap car and "move up" to car courier. When I first became a messenger, friends of my parents, in an attempt to "look on the bright side" for me, pointed out that as soon as I got to know all the streets of Toronto, I could become a cab driver.

In other words, the messenger companies look at BMA's as a minor irritant and they behave as normal. What BMA's do accomplish on the labour front is they organize and educate messengers. BMA's provide optimism for the industry.

Eventually things must change. Either companies improve their working relationships or the BMA evolves into a union or the BMA becomes inactive or disappears. Companies rarely improve standards unless they're forced to. Very few BMA's become a union. The most common scenario is that the couriers become impatient with the speed of change and take smaller roles in the BMA.

That was in the past. In the 1990's messengers have learned many lessons. As a result of the first CMWC in 1993, a large international network of messengers has grown. Communication among messengers in different cities is common. Successes and failures in foreign cities provide experience to couriers globally. Regional championships, alley cat races and other events have exploded all over the world. Unlike virtually every other athletic event, a messenger championship is conceived, organized, and run by the participants themselves. Messengers own their events and they are successful.
 

In the last year BMA's have formed in many major cites in the USA, Canada, the UK, Germany, and Australia. The International Federation of Bike Messengers (IFBMA) unites couriers worldwide. Increased communication has led to increased activism. When Boston unfairly (and likely illegally) discriminated against messengers, the IFBMA exposed the city to the world and visited the Massachusetts State Legislature to voice the messengers side. The IFBMA went further in honouring Boston with its inaugural Hall of Shame Award as the world's worst city in which to work as a professional bike messenger. Magazines across the North America and Europe devoted space to the award.

Couriers across Canada fought for two years to pressure Canada Post to enforce its own laws. And it looks like messengers in Calgary may have finally prompted Canada Post to act. BMA's have succeeded in forcing advertisers to pull commercials that unfairly attack couriers. Messengers in many cities are raising finds for charity. In fact many messenger championships (including the 1999 North American Cycle Courier Championships) donate the profits to charity. Last year Messenger Appreciation Day was held all over North America and even the courier company owners want a part of it for themselves.

The increased communication and interaction among the world wide messenger community also brings sadness as an endless stream of messengers around the world have passed away. They're unnecessary passing prompted couriers at almost every gathering to join together to raise funds for the families of our fallen brothers and sisters. These losses provide motivation for us all to make our industry safer and more responsible to its service providers.
 
On the labour front, the most promising news is the most recent news. Messengers at Ultra Ex in San Francisco voted this week to be represented by a union. This is the most significant labour event in the more than hundred years of the bike messenger industry.

Although there have been unions before this one is different. The San Francisco Bike Messenger Association (SFBMA) is the oldest active BMA. It began like many BMA's but about two years ago the SFBMA embarked on a union drive to organize the entire city's bike, foot and car messengers including office staff. Previous union drives were restricted to one company. Ultra Ex is just the first of many companies in SF to face union votes. The SFBMA has shown messengers around the world that perseverance and determination yield great rewards.

Couriers everywhere support San Francisco's efforts and will use the SFBMA's experience to improve the industries in their own cities. Ultra Ex is the first domino in a long wobbly line of companies spanning North America.
 

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