From a Concerned Herald Bulletin Newspaper Carrier

I was wondering about that, but I did not know.

I have been a paper carrier for the Herald Bulletin for the last year. I moved to Indiana from Southern California in February and have been running the paper route ever since. At first I was pregnant with my second child so while my husband worked another job I ran the route and stayed home with our oldest as daycare is so expensive. When I was sent to Ball Hospital for a week my husband ran the route and worked, when I went back to the hospital for the birth of my child my husband left the hospital every night to run the route, after having an intense surgery last month I was out every day running the route. When the paper got in a tight spot and needed a hand with some Sunday deliveries my husband went out and subbed for them.

Since we just moved here we don't know very many people out here and those we do know do not want to sub for us at that time of morning. So for nearly a year we have NEVER missed a day or taken a day off. When our car broke down on the route and we would not have it for a day, we were told find a way to do the route or lose it.

I am aware of the stipulations in our contract and am not trying to get around them. However, the people who pull the strings do not do what we do every day. Last week with the ice storm I was out on time delivering yet when I slid off the road and needed someone to come pull me out, I was charged for late complaints. Recently the District Managers have been told they need to charge for ALL the complaints or get in trouble themselves. A paying customer asked to have their paper delivered in the driveway,but because the paper was light and the wind was bad they complained that their bagged paper had blown into the yard. Another paying customer wanted their paper delivered in their driveway but a neighborhood dog continually stole it, and they complained of being missed. All of these things I was charged for.

I am not saying that I am always perfect. Due to the change in weather and my inexperience with these driving conditions I have been leaving earlier and driving slower yet I still am delivering later. The circulation desk does allow for some extra time with weather but not much. All 300 of my papers should be delivered by 6,on bad weather days 6:30, so if it is 6:45 I get charged. If it is a good weather day and it is 6:05 I get charged.

The new paper work for the Indy Star and all of the other publications (which we are required by contract to carry if the HB so deems) is often a week behind so if I have a start, a stop, a vacation I know none of this until after they complain (and I get charged).

My problem is that no one tries to do the research behind the problem, they take our money and tell us to get it under control. Well yesterday,December 22, we got a knock at our door while eating breakfast and were given a letter stating that our contract had been terminated. We were given no warning, no write-up, they simply said our complaint rate can only be at one percent in a two week span (that's 3 complaints in two weeks for my route) and ours was higher than that and we no longer would be running our route. It is 3 days before Christmas. I spoke to my boss the day before requesting more supplies and was not given a warning or a heads-up even though the paper work had already been signed.

I take great pride in my work and often went the extra mile or 2 to give the customers what they had requested. I have phone numbers for several and have even become good friends with some of my customers. So please understand that I was not half-assed about my work and genuinely did my best, yet I carried in an earea with many elderly people who want and expect their paper at very particular times and ways and sometimes that is not always possible yet I got complaints. And now I have been terminated just before Christmas and have to find cheap daycare for my 2 small children and a job that will cover the cost of daycare as well as the bills I previously covered with my route.

My family ran a paper route when I was very young in California, and I feel that the business out here is a sham. There is no concern, no investigation into the complaints just blind belief that I screwed up repeatedly, there are ridiculous charges and though I negotiated costs for my papers I could not get above .04 cents for the extra publications.

It is easy to assume that us paper carriers have invalid complaints, but my family was there every day for the paper and when I had genuine problems I was not returned that courtesy. I do not need to be schooled on my contract, but I think the HB should be schooled on their common human decency.

Thank you for your time and patience while I took a moment to vent. And thank you to anonymous for getting this information out there.

Thanks for sharing and welcome to the site.

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Pass this out to anybody looking for a job Please forward to anyone you may know of who is in need of a job.
Com Ed has commissioned the Dawson Skill Center to train electrical linemen.  Com Ed has a severe shortage and wants Dawson to train candidates so they can have a pool to draw from. One must apply to get into the education program at Dawson.

It starts this August, so they must jump on it. Applicants have to call 773-451-2100 to get an application.

It's a 10-month program, you don't need any college and either Com Ed or one of its subsidiaries will hire you after successful completion of the program.

You must be comfortable with heights, read and write at the 10th grade level, and pass a drug and criminal background check to get t into the program.  After successful completion and hiring, you start with $65,000 yr and elevate within 6 -8 months up to S100,000 with overtime.

Pass this to your protégés and to your church mentors. They are specifically looking for diversity-- And where can you make $100,000 a year with no college degree?

I assume they are looking for line workers and that is a job with lot's of danger associated with it. Many jobs that require you to risk life and limb pay large salaries with or without a college degree.

Not counting the military.

I haven't subscribed the the HB in 7 years. And now that it has become in majorly republican bias piece of trash i wouldn't wipe my a** with it or even line my cat's litter boxes with it.

I haven't subscribed the the HB in 7 years. And now that it has become in majorly republican bias piece of trash i wouldn't wipe my a** with it or even line my cat's litter boxes with it.

I searched google for paper carrier's union and this was the only relevant link. I work for the pioneer press in the twin cities, and there is a lot of people up here that feel the same about organizing a union, but nobody knows how to act on it. About a month ago every carrier that works in the same warehouse as me was shorted on their pay, I was shorted 50 dollars, some people were shorted over one hundred. We were told that one person was shorted, and then everyone else went into a hysteria and thought they got shorted. Two sundays ago we had special bags that the papers were required to go in, each bag had two small sample boxes of cereal attached. Our rate of pay for the special bags was one cent per paper. The bags were bulky and oversized for the paper, when I threw them the paper flew out. It took an extra hour of work, an extra hour I was legally paid 2 dollars for. The best part was that some of my papers were late, and the complaints added up to well over what I get paid for a sunday. The thing that is concerning is paychecks being short though. If anyone knows any legal action to take, I'd love to know.

Very many years ago I organized a union for waitress and bartenders in Hawaii.  Granted not the same.  I suggest contacting a union and ask them where to go and how to do it.  Needless to say I was not well liked by mgmt .