Patches, bandanas & hoodies!!!

New patch with Gravy-Phantom SFBMA logo is getting around town. For a $5 donation you too can roll like that. *New Colors* Forest green & silver bandanas as well as white on black or red on black are $6. They are well made- I`ve had mine over two years and it`s still kick…
All bandanas feature Lancifer`s Gear-Head design. A big THANK-YOU to Lancifer for the new Gravy-Phantom graphix..!

Hoodies… big, warm & well made featuring classic Gravy-Dog SFBMA logo $40. *Price may vary with your membership status. See about getting a free shirt ( depending on what`s available ), with your one year dues paid, that is… Due the righteous thing- support the SFBMA. Thank-you (in advance).

On the not so schwaggy side, Slick-Rick & Julie have Rand McNally SF cross street guides for $10. I use mine all the time. – $haggy

*If you are interested in all or any of the items previously mentioned, place orders w/ $haggy, Battle-Axe, Sardine or Slick.. Or, you can come to any event or meeting and personally pick your schwagg.

We will (gladly) accept any dues & donations of any valuable kind.?! Meetings are @ 255 9th St. the second Thursday of every month. Our next event is the HANX April 1st Ride/Race hosted by Kelly-Ray (sounds like a party on 2 wheels). Order on-line too @ SFBMA.com.

Check out the newly updated website with Super Messenger cartoons & paypal. Any ?`s call $haggy directly @ 415-786-5226.

Couriers Launch Campaign to Improve Conditions Industry-Wide

SAN FRANCISCO – Friday, August 12, The IWW Couriers Union Organizing Committee publicly asserts the right of workers at Speedway Delivery and Messenger Service, and throughout the courier industry, to a living wage.

For many years workers in the courier industry have been subjected to shamefully low or wildly fluctuating compensation from employers. Couriers work day in and day out – working in trucks, on bikes, or on foot – in extremely dangerous conditions, under intense pressure to deliver parcels on time. While most couriers fulfill their ominous task dutifully, few find that their compensation fulfills the task of making ends meet. Living hand to mouth is the norm for the people on whose backs our metropolises thrive.

At San Francisco-based Speedway Delivery and Messenger Service, conditions are no better. In fact, they’re much worse. Bought by current owners Lori O’Rourke and Charlie Lutge in the 1980s from former owners who refused to deal with then-emerging unionizing efforts, Speedway has pushed working conditions below even non-union standards. Their couriers endure harassment and disrespectful treatment from management, are extorted for equipment replacements, and to top it off, make an insultingly low commission of about 35% per delivery (most companies pay 50%), or as little as $8.00 an hour. That’s almost 20% less than the prevailing San Francisco minimum wage of $9.92 an hour, which is still far too low for most Bay Area workers to live on.

To inaugurate our campaign to improve working conditions for all workers in the courier industry in the San Francisco Bay area, we have submitted a letter to Speedway owners demanding that they stop breaking minimum wage laws and pay a Living Wage, and to remedy grievances regarding disrespectful treatment at work. It is our aim that these issues will be handled swiftly, respectfully, and to the satisfaction of Speedway’s hard-working couriers by Wednesday, August 17^th 2011. Further action from the Organizing Committee will then be necessary to resolve the issues at hand.

The IWW Couriers Union is a democratic organization of, by, and for all workers in the parcel delivery industry. By uniting across the industry – drivers, bike couriers, dispatchers and other non-managerial office staff – we are forming an independent organization to improve working conditions and secure our livelihoods. We are affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and international member-run union founded in 1905 for all working people.

www.MessengersUnion.org