Messenger in a Bottleneck*
| Monday 27 September, 2004 |
After a hard week of burning rubber around South London, the 'wheel that turns is the wheel that earns' winds down by... going hell for leather at Herne Hill Velodrome. The South London Olympic site hosted the Speed, Skill & Sausages event on Sunday, otherwise known as the courier community cycle fest.
The Sausages refers to the post-race barbecue of course, and nothing at all to do with the tightness of the lycra.
Never have so many cut off combat shorts been seen in the same place since Ned's Atomic Dustbin (worst fucking webshite - EVER) were last on tour. Of course it goes without saying that the day job requires responsible citizens who obey the Highway Code and stay within the speed limit. This all changes on the track with lap speeds touching just over thirty seconds.
Any seasoned cyclist will tell you that fuckspud pedestrians who ramble onto the road are as much a pain in their bony cycle seat arse as cocky cabbies. Even my short journey from Sunny Stockwell to Herne Hill led to a lesson for some free wandering fucker into the power of the free wheeling bike. Green light equals GO, and not the chance to test the strength of a metallic Marin frame over human bone. I win every time.
 Pedestrians who ramble are a pain in the arse |
The courier community is currently involved in an industrial dispute and this weekend off was a well timed occasion to form stronger bonds. Over one hundred and fifty couriers employed by London Messenger company SMS are on strike after a new management regime imposed new weekend working conditions. The rate for paid drops has also remained the same over a six year period.
Over 25,000 daily drops were made by the riders before the dispute. Four rider reps were sacked outright by the Waterloo based company and the industrial action has been registered with the TUC, for what it's worth (probably not very much).
The fear is that being a low paid, un-regulated labour market, finding scab staff, legal or otherwise, will not be difficult. The irony in employing cheap, foreign labour is that SMS has recently won the contract to deliver passports on behalf of the Home Office.
The job description may not include death, but for an industry which involves such high risk, this is no way to treat your workforce. A date has been set for late November for the trial of a HGV driver who has been charged with driving without due care and attention in an incident which killed London messenger Sebastian Lukomski.
The punishment, if found guilty, is disqualification from driving for a 'short period of time,' and the possibility of having to re-sit the driving test.
The couriers testing the century old Herne Hill circuit on Sunday weren't motivated by a barley above the minimum wage pay packet; they weren't intimidated by a London transport infrastructure that squeezes cyclists out into the periphery where they are most vulnerable. Cycling is their life and they pedal for pleasure. Admittedly there is pain in that pleasure but it sure beats being a Johnny at the bus stop.
*yes I know, weak...
(click on thumbs to see large image)
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london messengers
speed skill & sausages
