Brunswick News cuts pay rate for newspaper carriers

Newspaper carriers waking up early to deliver copies of the morning paper and other flyers will now being doing for less after Brunswick News Inc. announced an adjustment in their contracts.

Brunswick News Inc. announced newspaper carriers were seeing their rate of 15 cents per paper and flyer was dropping by a penny.

Ethan and Joseph Drost deliver around 24 papers a day, just as their dad and brothers have done before them.

Waking up early and trudging through the snow is not very fun, but the twins say one thing makes it worth the effort: "The money."

The brothers were earning around $100 a month for their paper route and then they got a note from Brunswick News about the cut in their rate.

The reduction means the twins are losing $7 a month.

Brunswick News did not reply to requests for interviews or information about the decision. The Irving-owned company owns the three English-language daily newspapers, along with other weekly newspapers around the province.

The newspaper industry, around the world, has been facing tough times in recent years. Declining sales has led to a drop in revenue for many newspapers.

The print circulation of the Fredericton paper, The Daily Gleaner, has been falling, according to Newspapers Canada.

The paper reported average weekday sales of print copies fell 22 per cent between 2009 and 2013.

The Daily Gleaner’s average weekday sales in 2013 was 15,886 compared to 21,297 in 2009.

There are also fewer newspapers making their ways to newsstands in the province.

Brendan Doyle, the manager of Read's Newsstand and Café in Fredericton, said he thinks Brunswick News is trying to reduce the number of printed copies.

“I get two Telegraph-Journals now, two copies, of the provincial newspaper,” he said.

Doyle said he and other downtown merchants often sell out of the paper and can't convince Brunswick News to deliver more papers.

“My feeling, and I've discussed this with other merchants downtown, is that they're looking to push customers towards the web,” he said.

Bruce Broster, a Fredericton resident, said he agrees that the company is likely trying to drive people to its online content. But he said he doesn't agree with the decision to reduce the paper carriers’ pay.

"In today's light, they probably should be increasing rather than decreasing the amount of support. Certainly their papers have gone up in price,” he said.

Last year, there was an increase of around 24 cents to $2.25 a paper for home delivery.