Feedback: Heartfelt Thanks From News Carriers

Dear President Bahr:

The members of the Independent Newspaper Carriers Association would like to express heartfelt thanks to CWA for its guidance to our fledgling organization. When carriers first realized that we needed to band together, CWA, on the suggestion of Jobs with Justice Cleveland Director Steve Cagen, was sought out for advice and we were taken under your wing! It is a great relief and wonderful experience to have brothers in solidarity to help us in our struggle for recognition.

The tireless guidance of Local 4340 Organizer Jim Cosgrove and President Ed Phillips, and Seth Rosen, administrative assistant to District 4 Vice President Jeff Rechenbach, is a blessing. We are being transformed from a group of hopeless individuals being oppressed by big business to an organization with high hopes for respectful relations and fairer dealings with large newspaper corporations.

Because independent newspaper carriers are not afforded the same rights under labor law as employees, we are blazing new paths in our efforts to organize. We are subject to heavy controls by the publishers as to where to do our jobs, how to do our jobs and when to do our jobs, while still being responsible for all of our operating overhead and taxes. The only control we, as individual businesses, had was the price of the product and our services. Now publishers are setting the price not only for the product, but also for our services. We formed our association to stand up for our rights to be independents as defined by law.

We are very proud that we are members of INCA/CWA 4340 and will continue in our commitment toward being united brothers and sisters.

Larry O’Brien
Carrier and Organizer

[Editors note: INCA represents newspaper carriers delivering the Cleveland Plain Dealer, (Lake County, Ohio) News Herald and (Akron, Ohio) Beacon Journal. They pay dues and obtain benefits through CWA Local 4340. The Cleveland Workers’ Rights Board has conducted a hearing to bring their plight to the attention of the broader community. INCA’s website is www.incanews.org.]