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Cold comfort for bicycle couriers
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| Bicycle couriers are bracing themselves for
a chill, as their employer refuses to give them winter clothes to run
their errands this winter Copenhagen Post, December 10, 2005 Bicycle messengers the Green Couriers risk turning blue as they whir through the city's streets this winter, as their employers disagree on who should see to it that they are dressed properly. Daily newspaper Politiken reported that the green-clad couriers working for Box the Green Couriers would not be being receiving any winter garments to work in this winter. Dorthe Helsby, CEO of Box the Green Couriers, said the company was not responsible. 'It's out of our hands. Our bicycle couriers are supplied by the two subcontractors who pay their wages,' she said. Helsby said the subcontractors, Guffe's Bicycle Couriers and Top Courier Transport, were responsible for their employees' outfits. The couriers' spokesman in Copenhagen, Jimmi 'Jumbo' Bargisen, said he could not see why Box the Green Couriers should not provide its namesakes with winter garments. 'We go around wearing their logo and being their face to the outside world. We are disappointed that they don't seem to care about our health,' Bargisen said, adding that the campaign for warmer clothing was an ongoing fight. He estimated that it would cost a total of DKK 50,000 to supply every courier with winter garments, including long trousers, a jacket, and a wind-proof shirt. Helsby said the company was not concerned about the costs, but emphasised that it simply was not its responsibility. Economic concerns, however, might be a hindrance to the two subcontractors. An anonymous source told Politiken that both companies had been running a deficit for the last two years, and simply could not afford to pay for the couriers' winter clothes. Instead, they have proposed that the couriers themselves buy the garments at wholesale price. The couriers have refused to pay for winter garments with the Green Couriers' logo. 'There have been a few proposals, such as withdrawing a part of our salaries for clothes,' Bargisen said. The bicycle couriers, however, are not interested in that solution. They say Box the Green Couriers is big enough and has money enough to provide its staff with appropriate uniforms. |
