Afrigather Throughout Nigeria, ride-hailing drivers are protesting. They’re demanding that Uber, Bolt and different ride-hailing corporations improve fares by no less than 200%.
A typical weekday morning in Lagos is rush hour, an excellent time of the day for cab drivers. However this Wednesday, ride-hailing drivers—suppose: Uber, Bolt, LagRide, Indriver—are protesting. On the route of the Amalgamated Union of App-based Transport Staff of Nigeria (AUATWON), ride-hailing drivers are following a sit-at-home order till the ride-hailing corporations improve their base fares. The union additionally has different calls for.
In keeping with the Nationwide Vice President for Southwest Nigeria (AUATWON), Kolawole Aina, “Every native authorities in Lagos State and by extension, all states in Nigeria might be protesting as we speak on the similar time.” TechCabal additionally understands that the drivers plan to picket the workplaces of Uber in Victoria Island and Bolt in Lekki. “All e-hailing platforms are shut down from as we speak until Friday,” Aina informed TechCabal over the telephone. “The riders ought to discover one other various,” he mentioned.
AUATWON is hopeful that the strike is not going to final lengthy. “The strike might not must final that lengthy in the event that they (Uber and Bolt) do what we ask in time,” Somoye Olalekan, the Public Relations Officer for the union, who’s main the protest in Ifako Ijaiye native authorities, one other location for as we speak’s strike, informed TechCabal. On the time of submitting this report, protest actions have begun in Edo State. Comrade Jolaiya Moses informed TechCabal he would be a part of the motion from there.
Regardless of the strike motion, which is meant to run until Friday, I might nonetheless discover a driver on the Bolt app who was 5 minutes away. As with most ride-hailing strikes, enforcement is tough as a result of many gig staff must work each day to outlive or make repayments to the house owners of automobiles or make good on loans. The AUATWON process drive understands the enforcement downside, and in Ifako-Ijaiye, the union is stopping drivers who’re working.
AUATWON’s calls for
As TechCabal reported on Tuesday, on the coronary heart of this week’s strike is a requirement by AUATWON asking ride-hailing corporations to extend fares by a minimal of 200%. The union can also be asking for a 50% discount in fee—Uber and Bolt gather a 20% fee on each journey—and an finish to the deactivation of drivers who refuse to work because of the low fares and attendant unprofitability. The union can also be in search of the recognition of AUATWON because the consultant physique for his or her pursuits.
*This can be a creating story.
