I was reading Julio's blog, Dispatch 101 and ran across the following post:
i got on the board late in the day...around 1600. i get word that one of our bikers was involved in a hit-n-run and is on his way in. wtf?! are you serious?! is he ok? i call him...he sounds shaken up but alright. i ask if he took down the other peoples information...nope! he arrives to the base...

6678...im ok. im a bit sore but i think im fine. my bars are bent and my front wheel is out of true but...im fine?

dispatch...wait, you didn't fill out a police report? you didn't get the other peoples info?

6678...the lady hit me and just jumped into her car. she took a picture of me as she drove away. i got the license plate.

...see, the lady took a pic to show that the messenger was fine as she was leaving. im assuming to show that he was fine and has no case. this really p*ssed me off...there's a more humane way to find out if he's ok...ask him!!! i asked the messenger if there were any witnesses but he didn't take that info also. i advised him to head to the police station to make a report. i know what the police is going to say..."not much we can do" but he should still make the report. he should have done everything in his power to make sure they didn't leave. he might be ok but his bike wasn't...he needs it for WORK! if he can't work then he's not ok.

there's another way this could have played out. a friend of a family member was involved in a collision while playing a sport. she was fine for about an hour and then her memory started fading. soon...she was losing the ability to speak. they rushed her to the hospital and all was fine. all head scans came back...ok. she did suffer a concussion and would spend the next 48 hours vomiting until she gets better. why do i share this story? cause the messenger was doored...he might have been ok at the moment but an hour later? who knows? the lady took the pic but what if he would have suffered a concussion? would she be there to snap a pic of him then?

moral of the story? do everything you can to make sure you have witnesses...make sure you take down every ones information...make sure you fill our a police report. the lady should have paid for the messengers bars and front wheel. unfortunately the messenger is no longer with us but he is fine. i wish him the best of luck in whatever else he will do. ride safe kids...peace.
I always get upset when I hear stories like this, even though I have been in the same position as the biker. Whenever I have been in a crash with a car, the first thing I want to do is just get the hell out of there. But you really need to resist that urge, settle down, and take the time to handle the situation correctly. We have covered what to do in an accident pretty extensively in the past on this blog, so I won't go over it again, but like Julio said; ride safe out there.

It happens every year. The only bright side to tax season is work picks up for a few weeks and there is more money in the streets for commission messengers. Doing your own taxes can be pretty daunting if you are a messenger. The companies tend to play a lot of games with your employment status. Messengers also tend to move from company to company frequently, so there is a real possibility that you may receive both a 10-99 and a W-2 in the same year, sometimes from the same company. The CCU hosted it's yearly tax workshop a couple weeks ago, with expert advice from veteran messenger, master bicycle mechanic, tax wizard, and the dirtiest old man you will ever have the misfortune of meeting, Chicago's very own Swampy Waters. The tax workshop was well attended, and Swampy gave out some solid advice, demonstrating how to use the IRS website to file your taxes online for free. He also showed his innovative method of maximizing your deductions, whether you are classified as an employee of an IC by your company. If you missed the workshop, Swampy is still happy to help messengers with their taxes, although it won't be free like the CCU tax workshop was, but it is still a bargain compared with overpaying to the government.Another project that the CCU is working on this year is trying to help messengers who are misclassified by their companies as independent contractors, and as a result are forced to overpay on their taxes. If you are misclassified as an IC, you won't get anything put into your social-security account for the period of time that you are collecting wages under a 1099 form. You are also missing out on your employers contribution to this account. The CCU plans to help messengers correct this wrong by using resources available through the IRS. The first is by helping messengers to fill out IRS form SS-8. Form SS-8 is an IRS form which is used to determine worker status, basically whether you are an employee or an IC. We are particularly focused on messengers who work at Chicago Messenger Service and also at Standard Courier. Both of these companies misclassify their employees as IC's, and we are confident that when messengers fill out IRS form SS-8, they will be determined to be employees. Here are some key parts of the form to look at, and since I have worked at one of these companies I answered the questions as I would fill out the form:

• Part1, question 2: Explain your reason(s) for filing this form (for example, you received a bill from the IRS, you believe you erroneously received a Form 1099 or Form W-2, you are unable to get worker’s compensation benefits, or you were audited or are being audited by the IRS). You believe you erroneously received a form 10-99
• Part1, question 5: Attach copies of all supporting documentation (contracts, invoices, memos, Forms W-2 or Forms 1099-MISC issued or received, IRS closing agreements, IRS rulings, etc.). In addition, please inform us of any current or past litigation concerning the worker’s status. If no income reporting forms (Form 1099-MISC or W-2) were furnished to the worker, enter the amount of income earned for the year(s) at issue If you are employed at CMS, you can site IL case #05WC45117, in which an employee was

determined to be an employee and not a contractor. If you work at Standard, this question
is a little bit trickier. People have challenged their employment status at Standard in the
past, but to the CCU's knowledge they have always settled before the case went to court.

• If both Form W-2 and Form 1099-MISC were issued or received, explain why. If this is the case at your company, just answer that you have no idea why your company does this.
• Part1, question 6: Describe the firm’s business It is a messenger service which provides same day delivery services.
• Part1, question 7: Describe the work done by the worker and provide the worker’s job title. I (the worker) am dispatched by a company employee to pick up and deliver packages for the company's customers.
• Part1, question 8: Explain why you believe the worker is an employee or an independent contractor. This is the most important question on the form. If you work at CMS, the first point is easy: you are required to wear a company uniform. At all messenger companies in Chicago, you receive your work over company equipment, either a radio or pager that you lease from the company. Your dispatcher determines the way in which your work is performed. You are not free to decide how and when to make your deliveries. The company tells you when to report to work, and when you can go home. The primary business of the company is providing delivery service, and your job at the company is to do deliveries for the company.
• Part2, question 1: What specific training and/or instruction is the worker given by the firm? If you work at Standard, you are required to watch a training video in the company office, and then follow another worker in the field for additional training.
• Part2, question 2: How does the worker receive work assignments? You receive work assignments from your dispatcher who is a company employee. The dispatcher instructs you where to go to pick up packages and also tells you when you should deliver them.
• Part2, question 3: Who determines the methods by which the assignments are performed? Your dispatcher, who is your direct supervisor at the company determines how and when your deliveries are made.
• Part2, question 4: Who is the worker required to contact if problems or complaints arise and who is responsible for their resolution? If problems arise, you contact your dispatcher (supervisor), and they resolve the issue.
• Part2, question 5: What types of reports are required from the worker? Attach examples. A daily manifest, provided by the company, with the company logo and phone number, is used to track each delivery and signature.
• Part2, question 6: Describe the worker’s daily routine such as, schedule, hours, etc. You are given a start time, and are expected to start each day at that time. You begin your day by going to the office to pick up manifest forms and the equipment with which you will be dispatched your work. You then continue on with your day, being dispatched every job by your dispatcher (supervisor). If you want to take a break or get lunch, you have to ask your dispatcher for permission. You also have to ask your dispatcher what time you have to work until every day. The dispatcher tells you when it is ok to go home. You then have to go back to the company office to return your equipment and turn in your paperwork before going home.

These are really the key points on form SS-8. The rest of the questions are pretty simple to answer. Once you have filled out form SS-8 and sent it in, you are ready for the next step. This would be form 8919, uncollected social security and medicare tax on wages. This form is pretty straight-forward and easy to fill out. Once a determination is made, and we are confident that you will be found to be an employee, your employer will be held responsible for their matching contribution to your Social Security and Medicaid fund. Once one employee is found at these companies, we will begin pursuing all employees to fill out these forms and get the compensation they deserve from their employers.This will also open the door for couriers to go after these companies for not providing workers compensation insurance to their employees. There will be more information about this in the near future, but the bottom line is that as an employee, your company will not be able to charge you $100.00 per month to provide your own workers comp. insurance.

We received some good news via the CCU email account the other day, in the form of a guest post from one of the mechanics at Blue City Cycles in Bridgeport:

At the bike shop (Blue City Cycles), there are no underpaid security guards taking their bad day out on me and no one trying to run me off the road; it's just me and the bikes. Going to the shop is something I look forward to all week. The owners are genuine and the the neighborhood is great.
Bridgeport, "The neighborhood of the future", has got all the best personalities: from the little old Chinese guy who doesn't speak English, but will spend an hour trying to get his point across, to the guy with the war stories who just wants to buy a patch kit and always has a beer for ya. Then there's the CEO, Vanya Von Tickles. Everyone asks if she's pregnant, but no. He's just a fat boy that will keep you warm as he purrs on your lap.
But here's the best part: Clare and Owen at Blue City Cycles have decided to give the CCU a sweet discount. And as far as I know they,like Yojimbo's Garage, are one of the few shops in Chicago to have an OFFICIAL messenger discount. But you do have to be a member of the Chicago Couriers Union to apply (and to my knowledge this is the only Wobbly discount in Chicago.
Also, for messengers in need, on Sundays there is usually someone available to help out after hours at the shop.
If anyone is interested, you can set up a workshop for messengers to get to know their bikes better. Grease ain't free! So be ready to throw down some dollars or bring some beer/whiskey for the monkey ;-).

So, don't forget that our second meeting of February will be this Wednesday the 17th, at the usual time and place, the UE Hall 6:00. We have a lot of things to talk about. Tax season is upon us, and we will be finalizing our plans for the annual CCU tax workshop. There will be more information about this after the meeting.
Another agenda item will be a report on the CCU chili night, which was held on February 3rd.

For those of you who don't know, there has been a weekly chili night hosted by different people in the messenger and Chicago bike community for the whole winter. Usually the Chili night is potluck style with people bringing pots of chili, cornbread, desserts, and other food items. Different people in the community volunteer their apartments to host a chili night every week. The CCU was given the opportunity to host chili night a couple of weeks ago at the Hall, and we did things a little different. The CCU provided all of the chili and fixings, and asked for a $5.00 donation for a bottomless bowl as a fundraiser to put some cash into the CCU bank account so we can continue our work to make Chicago a better city to be a messenger in. By all accounts the CCU chili night was a success. Cold, hungry people were fed and a decent amount of money was raised for the CCU.
On a personal note, I am really happy with the way chili night has turned out all winter. When I heard about a weekly chili night hosted by messengers and other bike people at the beginning of winter, I will admit that I was skeptical. It sounded like a great idea, but I didn't think it would last all winter. I figured somebody's house would get messed up, or people would lose interest, or they would run out of volunteers to host every week. But I am happy to say that I was wrong. Chili night has been going on strong all winter, and the remaining weeks are all booked up with people volunteering to host. This is a great example of solidarity in the community, and I am happy to report that people in Chicago have been feeding each other and keeping each other company for the whole winter.
Hell yeah!

I’m pissed off today.

That’s not really a surprising state of mind for a messenger to be in. There are a lot of reasons to get angry, frustrated, and stressed out. This is a tough job, a really tough job.

I woke up feeling like I was about to put another day in at a hard labor camp. Something about the dead of winter that drains your resolve and makes work especially grueling. Spinning heat and energy off into a cold nothingness, like a drained battery connected to a light bulb, frozen in a block of ice. The winter is wearing on me and maybe I am being oversensitive but…

I was holding three runs. One was going up north. One was in the middle of the loop. And one was two buildings down from me. I could have spit on the building. Which one do I do first? Hmmm. Maybe the run that was right next to me.

Instead I was told to go up north, and work backwards to the building I was pretty much in the lobby of already.

This pissed me off, but I knew the reason why my dispatcher did it.

You see, my dispatcher isn’t to blame here. If the northeastern run was late, he was going to hear all hell about it from the client.

Fair enough. Sometimes that happens, and I’m fine with it. But here’s the kicker. The person who the package was from, and the person the package was going to, weren’t going to be the ones calling and complaining.

Instead, the client that was going to be calling and complaining is a middleman that uses our services to make deliveries for clients they have in Chicago.

They don’t do any work themselves. They find customers and then farm the work out to us.

They are very cheap and they are quick to complain brutally about the slightest lapse of time.

I don’t even think they operate out of Chicago.

So here I am, hauling my ass up Michigan, going across town, doubling the amount of work I have to do, making money for people that don’t do a damn thing.

And I was thinking, what a bunch of fucking parasites.

I’m the one doing the work.

I’m the one freezing my ass off.

I’m the one producing labor.

It’s like I went out and picked an apple, and I have to give a bite to this guy, and then this guy, and then this guy and then this guy.

They’re getting fatter and fatter, and by the time I get my bite all I get is the nibbled core they throw to me.

Thanks for nothing.

So I guess that’s why I was pissed.

submitted by B.T.B.