TOBMA (Toronto Bike Messengers Association) has been in the news a lot recently. Most recently they've held a press conference and a fundraiser after the death of Darcy Sheppard. Ryerson Free Press shows a new angle of TOBMA as the voice and union for messengers who currently work for sorry pay and conditions.
“The best way to describe the courier industry in Toronto is a sweatshop on wheels.” said Hayward.
Bike couriers are paid by commission, which means they earn a percentage of each delivery, not an hourly rate. For instance, Hayward explains, if a courier earns 60 per cent of a delivery, with the average rate of $5, the courier will receive $3. Courier companies are also undercutting each other’s rates and over hiring to create more coverage.
“It doesn’t matter if one guy does the work or a 100 do it, the company will make the same amount of money…so they over hire to create more coverage, which means the couriers will make less money.”
As a result, Hayward said on average, couriers have been earning around $100 a day working 50 hours a week, for the past 20 years.
“When I started, this wasn’t a minimum wage job. In 1998, I made $100 a day and 11 years later, the rate is still $100. Apparently, 20 years ago it was still $100 per day too.”
Hayward and TOBMA are making a strong push to unionize, something that others have tried to varying degrees of success before:
The Toronto Bike Messenger Association of Toronto in a partnership with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, are currently leading a movement to unionize each individual courier company, which would allow couriers basic worker’s rights.
Hayward imagines a union contract including vacation pay, paid holidays and better job security. Most importantly, to combat rate undercutting, it would ensure couriers be paid a fair wage even if rates drop. Concurrently though, if rates rise, couriers would be paid according to the higher price.
Though historically, bike couriers have been viewed as a notoriously skeptical subculture of anarchists and anti-establishment types, Hayward remains confident unionizing the industry is possible.
The reality of couriers being a subclass of people attracted to the easy entry and flexibility has played out badly in the media after the death of Darcy Sheppard. The mainstream media ate up the ideas fed to them by Bryant's publicists, even suggesting Sheppard caused his own death by pulling on the steering wheel.
Although some couriers say the future of a unionized Toronto is grim, there has been progress made in the labour movement. The Toronto Hoof and Cycle Courier Coalition, the founding messenger association before it was reconstructed as the TBMA, won a 15-year battle with Revenue Canada to make the extra food couriers require as fuel, tax deductible. For once, lunch is tax-free as couriers can deduct $17.55 a day for food and drink.
Despite technological advancements such as the fax machine and e-mail and current economic factors, both causing a decline in the courier business, Hayward said the need for better rights for couriers remains unchanged.
“People blame the fax machine and people blame the Internet, but even if there is less work to do, why does that correlate to getting paid less for each individual delivery?…It’s the wild west of labour practices.”
Email didn't kill the need to send packages, just like it didn't kill off Canada Post.
Comments
Paul (not verified)
Or legal documents
Wed, 10/14/2009 - 12:21An email is not a legal document. Couriering legal work/papers/etc is still one of the best ways.
Svend
Interesting development
Wed, 10/14/2009 - 12:58The higher costs required can be tacked unto legal fees easily, they wouldn't be noticed.
I'd be curious to know who else uses bike couriers besides lawyers.
dash (not verified)
Lots of people use bike
Wed, 10/14/2009 - 13:46Lots of people use bike couriers. Any kind of administrative documents will go via them. I send design work all the time via bike courier. In my particular case, the rise in fees would be noticed, but there would be no choice for the clients really.
jamesmallon (not verified)
$100/day = $10/hr
Wed, 10/14/2009 - 14:40Look, I believe in unionization, since 'the man' will never give anything up without a fight, and I'm in one. However... $100/day is $2200/month or $27K/yr for unskilled labour: $10/hr to look at it another way. These wages are low for certain, but higher than for most labour of the type. They should unionize, but there are far sorrier labour conditions in our city.
Bring on the trolls!
Rich (not verified)
"Sorrier labour conditions"
Wed, 10/14/2009 - 18:13"Sorrier labour conditions" is a crap argument unless you believe all jobs should be reduced to working below a living wage. Can't pay your rent because an influx of cheap labour has reduced your wages to 11 bucks an hour? Sorry, but other people have it worse, suck it up. Sounds like a pretty crap society to live in if you ask me.
I wouldn't call bike messenger work unskilled either. There's a lot of on the job training that goes into making a rookie messenger (who is not particularly productive or efficient) into an experienced messenger who can reliably deliver packages quickly and prioritize deliveries.
Most jobs deserve to be better paid. The few people in business executive positions and business owners are overcompensated. This is a good step in my opinion.
kev (not verified)
unskilled labour?????
Wed, 10/14/2009 - 19:57'nuff said.
herb
wages vary
Wed, 10/14/2009 - 23:06One of the biggest reason to unionize didn't survive my copy and paste. It's that courier wages vary quite a bit, with many of them making far below $100 in a day.
One summer I worked for a whole week as a courier. By the end of the week I had made such a pittance for all my effort (including waiting around for another call because too many couriers were working) that I quit to take up landscaping for the rest of the summer. Having regular pay cheques is nice.
Anonymous (not verified)
Sorry no trolls except to
Fri, 10/16/2009 - 16:10Sorry no trolls except to point out that the article is incorrect in that respect. Only dedicated professional messengers earn 100+ a day. People with several years of experience and the willingness to work in any conditions.
Most messengers earn between 350 & 450 dollars per week. Since at those rates it is almost impossible to develop experienced workers the ones that earn 100+ per day are in a --severe-- minority.
Remember also that this is earnings before taxes, expenses including all clothing and equipment+radio fees, insurance except most do without insurance and do not have the protection of workmans compensation.
It ends up being far less than 100 a day.
chephy (not verified)
Indeed
Wed, 10/14/2009 - 20:15This is hardly unskilled labour. Unskilled bike messenger would be lucky to make 70 bucks per day (which actually falls below minimum wage) and not get seriously hurt the first week of the job. Non-rookie bike messengers have to master some non-trivial skills, including riding safely and quickly with traffic, knowing the layout of the city (including obscure alleways, exits and entrances to buildings etc.), prioritizing deliveries etc. Also, the job has a much higher chance of injury than your typical unskilled labour. There really is no comparison between couriering and burger flipping or warehouse packing... It's a whole different ball game.
jamesmallon (not verified)
about what I expected
Wed, 10/14/2009 - 21:01You all missed the point, as I thought. I am not against unions, their union, nor a living wage. Thought that would be explicit from the reading. You also seem not to understand the term 'unskilled labour': it does not mean *without *skills. I ride in traffic and know its perils, and also know most messengers are better at it than me. However, these are skills learned on the job, or available to any fit member of the population. If you stay a messenger, it is because you like the life or you have no better prospects. Sucks, but you aren't going to get rich for those choices, even is you are a hero to the cycling world.
Anonymous (not verified)
In fact you support an
Fri, 10/16/2009 - 16:14In fact you support an argument against working to ensure a living wage for these workers. You contend that the value of their services are represented by their rate of compensation.
Did you know that you are the troll?
Rantwick (not verified)
hmm.
Wed, 10/14/2009 - 22:24I don't know about this. If a union meant guaranteed wages, measures to protect workers' jobs and safety like most unions do, the speed and danger and special skills required to pull it off might go away too. If that happened, there wouldn't be an advantage to using a bike courier rather than a regular one any more, and could mean the end of the business.
On the other hand, if a union simply negotiated for a higher minimum commission, the incentive to go fast and take risks would continue, and courier speed would not suffer.
I am not stupid enough to voice an opinion on whether slowing down bike couriers would be good or bad... I'm just theorizing about the business side of things...
chilled (not verified)
Can I join the TOBMA?
Wed, 10/14/2009 - 23:44I mean, I just bought a messenger bag for my commute. Oh, wait a minute, I already belong to a union. :)
The Pedaller (not verified)
More In Store
Wed, 10/14/2009 - 23:59The inclusion of worker rights and an hourly pay rate are justifiable, but the increased costs will need to be paid for by customers - so it all comes down to value. If these costs can be recovered through increased pricing, great; otherwise this is a fruitless venture.
Do bike messenger services offer a better value than other courier services?
Do bike messengers limit the size of the package? I'd haul a trailer around town for the right cash – ‘cause I’ve seen 'that guy' with the stack of Bankers Boxes on the Dollar Store luggage caddy.
Are their bonded bike messengers for monetary & confidential legal documents?
Could a bike transport medical or scientific material?
What about delivering lunch?
Want more? Give more
simplicius2wheels
"Do bike messenger services offer a better value...."
Thu, 10/15/2009 - 10:44A neighbour who owned a courier company once told me that - in the city - nothing beats the speed of a bike courier. That's worth the extra dollar.
About this job and money: the daily take may be good for some, but once you factor in that there is no pay for holidays nor any other benefits, even those aren't doing well. Consider the high likelihood of getting hurt, your actual take is even less as you will miss some days or weeks of work even after a "minor" collision. In summary, I'd say these are slave wages that few folks would want to live on.
Ben
I only did it for a short while, but...
Thu, 10/15/2009 - 12:19It's faster. You get what you pay for.
Yes. Some loads will only fit on a truck, like a skid. There are surcharges for sending big things by bike.
Yes. I once delivered a cheque for $275,000, which I thought was pretty cool. Apparently some folks do a lot more than this every day. I think that every bike courier needs some level of security clearance
I used to transport xrays, which were a pain because you couldn't fold them and they were just huge. I also delivered something packed in dry ice to the National Research Council that was making pools of condensation in my bag. The deliveree was quite upset because it was supposed to be delivered by car.
That's probably best left to the experts.
Anonymous (not verified)
???
Fri, 10/16/2009 - 16:24You ignore that the unregulated nature and abuse of employment status classification coupled with poor management of an expected slowdown experienced in the 90's has caused this service industry to abandon competition by merit of service and caused it to compete only on rates.
The consistent rate war has devalued the service and now standards of service are not as high as they once were when a living wage could be earned performing this function. The same problem prevents legitimate companies from competing on service, though some still do.
The cumulative effect is that these rates have decreased to a point below what they were 15-20 years ago, when inflation has increased the costs, and pay scales, in most every other sector.
Ask yourself, do you earn more now than you did 20 years ago?
You could say no, if your rate of pay only increased to match inflation.
Now imagine how it is for them, they earned 90-100$ a day in 1993 though they worked hard for it.
Now they actually work harder, for the same pay or considerably less. Without any adjustment for inflation or any other modifier in our economy. They also pay more for their equipment, living expenses, etc, everything.
as for your suggestions in bold, sorry but they do all of that already.
uber (not verified)
James Mallon
Thu, 10/15/2009 - 09:59James is the only commenter on here that makes sense and isn't commenting on a knee-jerk or 'me too' attitude.
I was a bike courier for 2 years back in the early 90's and if i could do anything now i'd love to go back to making $100/day riding my bike.
Seriously...you're riding a bike for a living? That's a dream job! AND getting paid 27k a year for that?!?! With free lunches?!?!
And if you're smart and talk to an accountant you can get away with writing off portions of your bike costs and maybe some safety equipment costs (see: helmet).
I'd say that's a sweet deal so quite whining!
Anonymous (not verified)
James Mallon and you represent knee-jerk on this subject.
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 09:53The article is incorrect, most do not earn 100$ a day. They average 350-450 per week before taxes and expenses. They do not earn 27k a year, that is just bad math coupled with a rosy vision of 100 a day, most will not admit to earning less out of pride but I see the checks.
Not portions, all of it. They know the can and do write off all bike related expenses.
So you were earning 100 a day in the early 90s and think that is enough here leading into the teens of the next century....
If you are not doing better than that outside of messengering you should not return to it, it is much harder than you remember, you would earn less than you did before and carry more weight to earn less.
The food deduction does not equate to free lunches, it is a deduction. That means it allows you to deduct the amount of that expense from taxable income. It usually works out to a 10-14% reduction in the cost of the expense. So it's about like getting a dollar or so back on the extra 10$ you spent, except you have to wait and get it lump sum at the end of tax season, you shoulder all of the expense until then.
free lunch...I wish I were in a world as simple as the one you found.
Kevin Love
Unfair competition
Thu, 10/15/2009 - 22:03There really needs to be a crackdown on courier vans/trucks that park illegally. This illegal business model provides unfair competition to bike couriers.
Also, it is fairly easy for the City to do. Just tow the van away. Then all the customers whose deliveries are not happening will be very unhappy customers. The van will be released from the City impound lot - eventually. Moving at warp speed "bureaucracy."
When the City starts towing illegally parked courier vans, then the courier companies will immediately stop allowing their vans to be parked illegally. This will give the competitive advantage to bike couriers.
Rantwick (not verified)
what? are you serious?
Fri, 10/16/2009 - 15:45As annoying as those trucks are, are you really suggesting that they should all find legal parking spots in the downtown core? People need things delivered fast a lot of the time, and if it was too big for a bike, you would be totally out of luck. God help the delivery guy if somebody ships a nice big TV or something...
Cops could make a fortune doing deliveries on the side, since nobody else could park illegaly to make them!
geoffrey
Receiving
Sat, 10/17/2009 - 05:35Most downtown buildings have receiving areas. Most others have laneways in the rear for receiving. The couriers tend to grab illegal spots in front to avoid the "inconvenience" of navigating the laneways and shipping docks.
Commuter59 (not verified)
Unfair competition -parking
Sat, 10/17/2009 - 13:41Indeed, all those truck courier companies and their ilk (shredder trucks, etc) are getting free "office space" from the city every time they park their trucks. It would be too expensive to tow them, so just charge them rent.
I'd say the equivalent of the same space they take (including a 1m buffer zone on three sides) at the same rate that the lobby of the building they're outside would be reasonable - payable to the city, of course. Four hour minimum.
The city is already going after old-folks clubs and day-cares using the parks, after all.
Kevin Love
Yes, I disapprove of illegal business models
Sat, 10/17/2009 - 08:00Because they provide unfair competition to those who have integrity and follow the rules. Also, the illegal parkers endanger the public by parking in fire safety zones.
Tow them away!
I look forward to large/bulky deliveries being made by cargo bikes.