About the London Bicycle Messenger Association.
The LBMA is a group of messengers and ex-messengers who have come together to give a voice to London's most visible cycling group. Despite 20 years of service to London businesses, generating annual revenues worth £45 million, London's bicycle messengers have had no consistent representation at any level in London, other than that provided by Moving Target, the London messenger fanzine. In the context of growing coherence of international messenger groups, coordinated by the umbrella organisation of the International Federation of Bicycle Messenger Associations, London's messengers are some way behind other major cities.
The local messenger organisations of Washington DC, San Francisco and Copenhagen are strong, well organised and consulted by all the statutory bodies and advocacy groups in their respective cities. Although the structures differ, the San Francisco Bicycle Messenger Association being focused on unionisation and the District of Columbia Bicycle Courier Association more on advocacy, there is a general trend towards more formal organisation. There is a history of activism within London's messenger community: the 2nd Cycle Messenger World Championships was hosted by London messengers at the Royal Docks, East London, in 1994; there have been various attempts to unionise London's couriers by DIWU, T&GWU, IWW, LCMA and others; London's messengers have sometimes been credited with sparking the world-wide Critical Mass movement by 're-taking' Oxford St to mark the death of messenger Edward Newstead in 1992; and Moving Target, the London messenger 'zine, one of messengerdom's best known publications, was founded in 1988. So why has London, with a large population of messengers and this heritage of activity, fallen so far behind these other cities?
The LBMA view this as due to the demographic of London's messengers, i.e. they tend to be like most manual workers in London, transient, and therefore disinclined to view their tenure as anything except short-term, and due to the terms and conditions imposed upon most messengers by their companies. The typical contract between a messenger and their company seeks to absolve the company of any responsibility, financial or otherwise, for bike, clothing, communications, accident cover, sick pay, holiday pay and tax. Also typical is piecework payment, which encourages an atmosphere of competition between messengers, and fosters mistrust and jealousy. When coupled to the media portrayal of messengers as young, male, macho, free-spirited and irresponsible, these factors can be seen to contribute to a London messenger self-image of an individualistic maverick unable and unwilling to accept the discipline of formal workplace organisation. 'What's in it for me?' is the question often asked in response to calls for greater organisation amongst London's messengers, and faced with an unresponsive population, lacking in the necessary organisational skills or experience, all nascent London messenger organisations have failed to outlast the enthusiasm and energy of the handful of key organisers, fading soon after the departure of the founders.
Why will the London Bicycle Messenger Association be more successful than its predecessors? First, we will follow the model of other successful messenger organisations and engage with other bigger, better-resourced organisations, such as the LCC, TFL etc, whilst still seeking to retain our messenger identity. Second, following this model, we will also continue to organise social events for messengers, as this is likely to be the best source of new activists, and also provides the opportunity to test organisational skills and structures.
To this end, the LBMA is hosting, organising and promoting the 2003 European Cycle Messenger Championships at Lee Valley Cycle Circuit, E10 on the weekend of 24th - 26th May 2003. Mostly funded from competitor entrance fees and organised entirely by volunteers, the event will be attended by up to 1000 messengers from all over Europe and beyond. Currently, the LBMA is projecting a small surplus, which will be used to fund much-needed out-reach and dissemination of information within the London messenger community and beyond.
It is said amongst messenger activists that organising messengers is like herding cats. We hope that, at least in London, this can be disproved.
Objectives of the LBMA:
- a) To attract the international courier community to London and to promote international courier events in London.
- b) To foster a spirit of cooperation and community amongst London cycle messengers.
- c) To raise funds for the relief of incapacitated working messengers.
- d) To support the use of pedal power for commercial purposes.
- e) To provide and promote local events, which create a social environment in which all types of cyclists can engage including bicycle messengers, commuter cyclists and racing cyclists.
- f) To create links between the LBMA and other cycling organisations.
- g) To support safe riding amongst bicycle messengers.
- h) To ensure the future of the bicycle messenger industry by raising the industry's profile, creating a better understanding between the businesses they serve and the communities with which they interact.
- i) To develop the LBMA website as a hub & forum for the organisation’s activities in order to facilitate the exchange of information & expression of views.