Afrigather On Monday, April 17, 2023, the Amalgamated Union of App-based Transport Staff of Nigeria (AUATWON)—the union for ride-hailing drivers threatened a million-man protest in response to Bolt and Uber’s transfer to revoke the brand new union’s licence. AUATWON was established this 12 months after years of continuous friction between ride-hailing apps and drivers. A main supply of competition is driver earnings and the fee that the apps take. Many drivers argue that corporations like Uber and Bolt refuse to scale back their fee—each corporations cost 20% fee on every experience—and value wars have significantly decreased their earnings.
However the newest fallout between the drivers and ride-hailing corporations centres on Uber and Bolt are difficult the legality of the newly fashioned AUATWON. In line with the union’s secretary common, Comrade Ibrahim Ayoade, “Uber and Bolt wrote to the Ministry of Labour to withdraw our certificates as a result of they didn’t make use of us due to this fact we don’t have a proper to type a union. They’re crossing their boundary. They’re taking part in with fireplace this time. And really quickly we will lead a million-man protest in opposition to them.”
In a press release to Technext, Uber admits that it wrote to the Registrar of Commerce Unions on the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment however insists that its letter doesn’t “shut the door on dialogue” however seeks to make clear “incorrect claims that drivers are staff, not unbiased contractors.”
Uber and Bolt’s letter to the Ministry of Labour will spotlight a authorized query that each corporations have throughout the nations they function: are drivers full-time staff or unbiased contractors? Each corporations have argued in US and UK courts that their drivers are unbiased contractors, not staff. This distinction is necessary as a result of within the US, for example, unbiased contractors cannot form unions or bargain collectively. In Africa, there have been a string of lawsuits in opposition to Uber in Kenya and South Africa, with drivers contesting the unbiased contractor standing the ride-hailing firm has ascribed to them. In Nigeria, the ride-hailing drivers lastly scored a significant victory in January 2023.
AUATWON’s legality shall be contested
The Nigerian Commerce Unions Act grants AUATWON authorized authority to take part in making selections in regards to the working circumstances of ride-hailing drivers. Regardless of the Commerce Unions Act, Uber and Bolt’s letter to the Ministry of labour recommend that AUATWON’s legality shall be questioned.
In line with Ayomide Ogunsanwo, a authorized practitioner, “If the Nigerian Commerce Unions Act (which is an overriding regulation backed by the Nigerian Labour regulation) empowers the union to have a say in figuring out the phrases and circumstances of drivers, there’s nothing Uber and Bolt can do about it.” In line with Ogunsanwo, Bolt and Uber ought to have interaction in dialogue with the union fairly than resorting to license revocation threats.
On December 4, 2018, the Nationwide Industrial Court docket (NIC), Lagos division, delivered a landmark judgment in Swimsuit NO. NICN/LA/546/2017 between Oladapo Olatunji & Daniel John v Uber Applied sciences System Nigeria Ltd & Taxify Expertise Nigeria Restricted. The Plaintiffs, Olatunji and Daniel, sought declaratory reliefs and urged the court docket to carry that they have been staff of the Defendants, Uber and Taxify (now Bolt) and never unbiased contractors.
The court docket dismissed the Plaintiffs’ declare as a result of they failed to offer adequate proof to exhibit an employment relationship between the events (Taxify and Uber). Nonetheless, the court docket didn’t additionally pronounce that the Plaintiffs have been unbiased contractors.
Following the court docket judgment, the drivers filed an enchantment which is but to be decided. Regardless that the court docket is but to make clear the place of the drivers, if Uber or Bolt file a swimsuit, the court docket could also be compelled to make a ruling. Ibitayo Reju, a Senior Counsel at Dentons Acas Legislation, advised TechCabal, “Though the court docket is but to determine the place of the Nigerian drivers, if Uber and Taxify had filed a counterclaim and requested the court docket to pronounce that they have been unbiased contractors, the court docket would have been constrained to take a place.”
Ibitayo expressed optimism within the Nigerian Court docket of Attraction making a pronouncement as as to whether the Plaintiffs are certainly staff of Uber and Bolt or unbiased contractors. “Given the choice of the NIC on this matter, I hope that the Court docket of Attraction will invoke its statutory powers underneath part 22 of the Court docket of Attraction Act and emphatically make a pronouncement as as to whether the Plaintiffs are certainly staff of the Defendant or unbiased contractors,” he concluded.
