3-day e-hailing airport strike

THE Western Cape E-hailing Association (WCEA) has warned they will be carrying out a protest at the Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) as part of a three-day strike to iron out working conditions such as poor toilet facilities, inadequate parking, congestion and health and safety deficiencies.

The strike is expected to start today, on Freedom Day, and end on Monday.

Listing their demands in a statement, the e-hailing association said the protest action was in response to the lack of parking provided by the app companies, and the working conditions.

Siyabonga Hlabisa, from the association, together with its secretary, Omar Park, said the association represented a significant number of e-hailing drivers/operators in the province who had expressed deep concerns over the inadequate parking facilities provided by Uber and other app companies for drivers picking up and dropping passengers.

Hlabisa said drivers had reported long waiting times, congestion, lack of proper amenities, no toilets for women, poor maintenance and lack of health and safety, making their work more challenging and affecting their livelihoods.

“This unbearable work environment has now spilled over into serious tensions among drivers, with potentially volatile situations developing,” he said via their letter of grievances.

“The association has highlighted the poor working conditions drivers are subjected to, including long hours, low pay and a lack of support and responsiveness from app companies. These issues have been exacerbated by the increased demand for e-hailing services at the airport.

“In light of these grievances, the association has called for a protest action at CTIA to demand immediate improvements to parking facilities and working conditions.

“The protest action is scheduled to take place (from today to Monday), during which participating drivers will cease operations at CTIA.”

The City said it was for the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) to comment and that as far as law enforcement and safety were concerned, the matter was in the hands of the police.

Acsa's Thulisiwe Mkatshwa said they the organisation was aware of the strike and were appealing for clients to arrive earlier at the airport.

“Acsa has been made aware of an impending strike action by WCEA, which is expected to affect passenger access to that mode of transportation at CTIA … the airport management team would like to assure all travellers that contingency plans have been put in place to mitigate any disruptions that could potentially be experienced.”

Provincial Minister of Mobility, Ricardo Mackenzie said they had engaged WCEA and e-hailing companies about the planned peaceful protest.

“We support the WCEA's right to protest, which is enshrined in the Constitution, and have reminded them of the responsibility to abide by their operating licence conditions.”

The provincial police's Captain FC van Wyk said it was a matter for the national police to address, but the latter did not reply to queries.

One of the e-hailing companies, Uber, also did not reply to queries.

Sandra Buyole of Bolt said they are aware of the issues presented by the association and respects every driver's right to protest. “Bolt has always appealed to drivers to do so legally, peacefully, and without impacting the rights of other drivers who choose to continue operating and earning an income.

“We will monitor and provide information to our driver community and passengers during this potential protest.” Bolt has been proactively working with Acsa and CTIA to resolve this issue and will continue to engage with drivers.