Just for the record, the following is the list of demands that messengers presented to San Francisco DMS managers on January 12, 2000. As of January 16, only points 6 and 12 were agreed to by manager Terry Hird.
We, the employees of DMS/RMS/City Sprint, demand:
1) That all payouts be increased by 35% for all commissioned couriers, including bikers, drivers, and walkers. Also that the UPG(Universal Payout Grid) zones be reconfigured logically.
2) That all hourly DMS employees - both office workers and couriers shall receive a minimum of $15/hour with regulated workloads.
3) Equipment Compensation: That bikers and walkers shall have 5% of their total gross added onto each paycheck to cover the cost of equipment. Drivers shall receive full compensation for work - related maintenance and repair.
4) That bikers shall not have to absorb client discounts on oversize and overweight charges. Drivers shall be paid oversize charges on biler tags and shall receive oversize charges for parcels over four feet.
5) That drivers be paid no less than bikers for bicycle tags.
6) That favoritism ends. No secret dispatching of jobs.
7) That divide and conquer tactics of pitting couriers against one another end. That there be a clear policy guiding placement onto different boards, and that new messengers be integrated onto freecall as fast as possible.
8) That couriers be paid an additional $25 hazard compensation on all days of an hour or more of rain.
9) That communication equipment used be of working order, including but not limited to pagers, radios, dispatch headsets, paging terminals and batteries.
10) That all employees be granted paid sick days, holiday and vacation pay.
11) That DMS employees who have quit in protest of current work conditions be allowed to return.
12) That no retaliatory action be taken against those participating in this strike action.
To some it may seem that DMS workers are asking for a lot. However, these demands have been presented three times over the past years , only to be completely rejected by the previous four general managers. Perhaps a point by point review of the historical circumstances leading up to this action may help:
1) Payouts - Ever since DMS took over the 8 companies in 1998 UPG rates have never been completely revealed to the messengers, and client charges have been hidden. Some of us receive commissions as low as 16%, and for drivers that pay for gas, tolls, insurance, repairs, tickets, and everything else 16% is like working for free.
2) DMS office workers receive pay as low as $8 per hour, not enough to live in expensive San Francisco.
3) DMS does not pay for tires and brakes and other expenses incurred - If a driver’s transmission goes, they must pay up to $50 a day to rent a vehicle or not work.
4) This year oversize charges have been reduced or dropped - waiting time has been reduced or eliminated, and add stops are determined by the whim of dispatchers.
5) In town drivers discovered recently that they were being paid less for bike work than the bikers - drivers have to pay to work, and a $1. 50 payout will not pay the bills.
6) Many out of town drivers, depending on how well they know the dispatcher and who is their friend in the office get choice routes, choice jobs by car phone, and are given high paying tags while others are in line trying to build a run. One driver is never heard on the air, but makes as much as everyone else.
7) The last year has seen messenger boards split in half and many messengers sent to different boards to eliminate too much teamwork. Team Leaders have been eliminated, leaving all “Free Call“ decisions up to management friendly dispatchers.
8) Other messenger companies have rainy day bonuses - why can’t $$$ rich DMS?
9) Driver radios don’t receive transmissions in the financial district, North Beach, or the Avenues. Dispatch headsets fail, and computers crash. Paging terminals fail, so that messengers that get dispatched exclusively by pager never receive jobs. Batteries used to be free.
10) We messengers are exposed to rain, sun, bad traffic, and adverse conditions. One driver was dispatched to pick up a table that weighed 80 pounds, and when he got there he discovered it weighed 280. When loading he suffered a heart attack. Many bike messengers have been maimed and some have died delivering $2 packages. Other messenger companies pay for vacations, but here if you take 5 days off you must work twice as hard when you get back to make the rent. DMS only pays a fraction of health care and dental - evidenced by the number of messengers missing teeth.
11) As in most messengers companies when conditions get bad messengers leave for other companies, and conditions never change because no one stays to try to improve them.12) During other job actions participating messengers have been harassed by other employees, and squeezed out by management. Some have even received death threats. Some receive harassing phone calls. How many of these messengers standing up for basic workplace rights will still be around in two months?
If all of these problems existed at just one messenger company in the United States, it would be considered a crime. But these working conditions exist at every messenger company in the world, and conditions are getting worse. Do we have a right to protest?
“The Skunk Thunk the Stump stunk, the Stump thunk the Skunk stunk.”
