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Imagine being a delivery driver. As you can probably imagine, some drivers would have it easier than others depending on their delivery route and how many deliveries they have.

In this story, a college student takes a job as a delivery driver for a newspaper, and he has the worst delivery wrote. His manager realizes that and agrees that it makes sense for him to have a higher pay rate because of it.

Then the CEO finds out, and he negates the agreement. That’s just the beginning because the driver is determined to get everything he thinks he’s owed and more.

Keep reading for all the details.

CEO voids a verbal agreement… enjoy the new union!

25 years ago I worked 7 nights a week as a driver, subcontracted to the local newspaper to deliver bundles to stores and carriers.

At 18, I was the youngest driver with his own route, having first been brought in by a family friend when I was 16 as a spare driver then moving up.

My days were at college studying comp-sci or working computer repair jobs.

It sounds like he had the worst route.

Verbal Agreement Gets Voided

The rural route I was offered had the greatest number of km’s with a relatively lower number of newspapers compared to other routes.

I made an agreement with the manager, bought a heavy duty cargo van which had been converted to run on propane (far cheaper back then), then got to work.

Most other trucks would not have made a profit doing this route.

But he should’ve gotten the agreement in writing.

After several months on the job, I was called into the office by the CEO (of distribution company) who was mad that I had been getting paid more for my km’s in comparison to other in-city routes.

The manager backed me up saying he had OK’d the rate to balance out the longer hours with fewer bundles.

The CEO yelled at the manager in front of the whole office and asked if there was a signed contract to state the agreed terms.

When the manager admitted it was a verbal contract, the CEO said it then didn’t count and was void.

Apparently, all the other drivers realized OP had the worst route too.

I Get Organized

Stuck with having to pay off the cargo van, and I really did enjoy the job itself, I kept at it… but documented EVERYTHING including all negotiations, calls asking me to come early, requests to set the order of my route, times waiting at press, times entering/leaving loading bay, who was before and after me, route completion times, return home times, fuel costs, km’s driven, and press breakdowns.

Six months later I wanted to take some time off but was refused. None of the company spares would agree to do my route since it cost them too much in time and fuel.

Working 7 nights a week gets draining. I threatened to quit and the company relented, agreeing to pay the spares more (but not me).

This situation made me madder than ever and I started reading.

He learned something that he thought he could make work to his advantage.

I Get Organizing

I learned of the magical difference between a dependent and an independent contractor and how a dependent contractor is granted many of the same rights as employees… like overtime and holiday pay.

I knew this was a temporary job for me, but I was mad enough to devote a large amount of my time to make the owner pay.

I filed a comprehensive personal employment standards complaint using all those records I had been keeping, plus I offered my records to around 10 other drivers who followed my lead into filing their own complaints.

A key part of my records was proving how much control the company had on how we performed our jobs.

He decided a union would be a good idea.

Talk of unionizing was always in the background, but it was at this point I joined the cause with a fervour.

We attracted one of the country’s largest unions who devoted a fair amount of resources to backing us even before they were voted in.

My records went to the union who referred to them consistently.

But it wasn’t easy.

Because I had years of spare experience, I also had in-depth knowledge of many of the other routes and the lopsided pay. I helped convince several of the other drivers to join up, including some of the spares.

Forming a union is a long process, so be aware there were multiple votes interspersed with the events below with each vote favouring the union position.

There were also several other enthusiastic organizers who were tired of how things were.

It got worse before it got better.

The Company Fights Back

The company played hardball and went after us on multiple fronts.

A number of union-friendly spares were fired, drivers lost their routes due to strategic amalgamations, and I was let go under the excuse that I had less seniority than the CEO’s son-in-law who had worked as a spare a couple of times over the last few years.

My own departure didn’t last long.

He had a lot of people on his side.

The newspaper itself demanded I be put back on my route following major problems and delays from the son-in-law doing it (bad drops, loads of complaints by carriers and customers).

The union filed complaints to the labour board calling it obvious union busting.

I filed a complaint to the employment standards tribunal which had been set up for my personal case.

The company was willing to negotiate.

Since the company had played the seniority card, it was determined I had greater seniority than a number of “company men” given I had worked as a spare since I was 16.

The labour board said I should be given the opportunity to “bump” any of those with less seniority and take their route.

Both the company and union asked me not to pursue this if I agreed to an immediate increase to my current route and to be paid for all days missed. I agreed 🙂

Now, things are looking up.

Negotiations Pay Off

Now two years later from the start of my story, negotiations were still ongoing but several interim agreements had been reached.

A universal pay algorithm was agreed on, with drivers receiving backpay to when the negotiations started.

I received one of the biggest cheques.

He refused to back down until he got everything he wanted.

One thing I did not agree to was to let the union negotiate away my employment standards complaint. I was the lone hold-out here, so as such I had equal standing in some labour board tribunals with CEO and union negotiators.

I will always relish the disdain the CEO had for me at those meetings, to the point of placing his briefcase on the negotiating table to block my view of him… and me reclining back ever so slowly in those nice comfy chairs to grin at him while offering water.

The employment standards tribunal determined I was a dependant contractor. They awarded me everything I had asked for and more including penalties and interest.

They made a point to mention how egregiously the company had behaved after the complaint had first been submitted.

The “dependent contractor” determination greatly strengthened the union’s position for future negotiations.

It was well worth his efforts.

I Move On To My Career… And Steak

I quit shortly afterwards since I had finished with college and was full into the tech world.

It did take a couple more years for the company to finally agree to pay the full amount awarded. The CEO delayed it as long as he could. Every few months I refused lowball settlement offers.

That final cheque with his personal signature paid off my student loans and a steak dinner 🙂

Paying off his student loans after all that makes it well worth it.

Let’s see how Reddit responded.

This person has a question.

Another person shares the moral of the story.

This person has a question about the CEO.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who decides to mute her boss’s number after he insists on calling her at home after hours.

Always get it in writing.

Patience is key.

While it’s always a good idea to get an agreement in writing, in the long run, it worked in this driver’s favor not to get it in writing. If he had, he would’ve happily gone about his route with his agreed upon pay rate. While not getting it in writing led to a huge ordeal, in the end, he benefited from it.

Don’t give up, kids. If you’re right, don’t back down.