Messenger co-ops?
 

has anyone come across a bike messenger cooperative before? i was searching on the net with no success.
here messengers use mobile phones to get work, and it seems like a co-op would be an exellent idea for the workers to get paid better rates. the owner of a company takes the calls, and takes half the pay of the courier, so why not swap the phone around in a cooperative and let everyone get paid an equal wage.
does anyone know of a company that uses this method of employment?

woo hoo for LA messengers... look at this site, yo. ;)

http://ulockmob.com/labma.html

Cupid Courriers in SF is a worker owned collective.

http://www.cupidcourier.com/

sounds great!

collective messengers in portland, oregon: magpie messengers http://www.magpiemessenger.com

and PedEx in san francisco, santa cruz, eugene oregon, and more! http://www.pedalexpress.com/
(the one in santa cruz is a collective for sure)

slight correction, there's no pedal express san francisco, but I've been a worker/owner at http://www.pedalexpess.com/berkeley for a couple years. We pay ourselves well (for the industry), have great benefits, and still manage to get the work done and make money. Takes a good group of people though. If you have it, I say dump the bosses off your back.

Cupid in SF (as mentioned above) is also a coop. Drag racer in SF is technically a coop, but is super small now and doesn't really qualify. IMHO, it's the only financial structure that can ultimately succeed in this industry.

If you want more info on bike messenger coop stuff, pm me and I'll be glad to talk your ear off.