All your distribution eggs in one basket

The 81 unionized workers who have struck ProLogix Distribution Services have proven the old adage that it is dangerous to put all your eggs in one basket. ProLogix is the heavy lifting part of the magazine distribution system in central Canada. And, according to Mastheadonline, Teamsters Canada Local Union 419 president Tom Fraser says his members rejected the company’s contract offer on April 19 and set up a picket line the following morning, after a three-year contract expired Dec. 31.

There was a time when each company -- ProLogix is a joint venture serving both Metro News and the Jimmy Pattison's News Group -- ran its own trucks and hopscotched along, serving the same stores for different collections of magazine titles. It may have seemed like a good idea to combine into one, jointly owned, delivery service.

But what it effectively means is that, when something like a strike happens, magazines have no alternative. So far it looks like mags are still being sorted, trucked, returns picked up and shredded by part-timers. But this is the Teamsters we're talking about; how long will that go on?