Platform drivers in Nepal organising

 “We have been focusing on how to organize app based drivers, and we now have 800 to 900 members in only 6 months. This is new, we do this mainly through personal contacts, but it is very hard to gather and reach them, they are very busy and scattered. We need material to share with them, to explain what the union can do for them. For now, we focus on individual cases and assist them with problems, but we need to start collective bargaining, towards the companies, the city authorities and the social security. For now, we can only try to find solutions for problems ourselves, like help each other in case of accidents, or talk to traffic police if somebody got fined, but we need to start speaking in a strong, collective voice!”

“My friend told me to start working as driver. I had to take a loan to buy a bike, and it took me over two years to reimburse it. Every day I earn around 10€ but I just can’t manage to save anything. We need to buy a private insurance through our platform, which covers the driver and the passenger in case of a road accident, with our medical expenses covered up to 100.000NPR or 670€. No repairs to the motorbike are covered, so this we have to provide from our own pocket. Another issue is that sometimes, when we arrive for pick up, the passenger is carrying a baby or a small child and will insist to bring it, and we have no other choice. But if an accident happens, the child will not be insured.

We are not provided with any uniform or sign from our platform that we are drivers, so the police do not recognize us as workers or that it is our job. We get fined, sometimes without knowing the reason. Sometimes the union can help us with that. We really want them to help us. The city officials provides no facilities for us: we are chased if we have to stand and wait for clients, there are hardly any public restrooms or places we can get drinking water. There is also tensions with other, not-app taxi drivers who sees us a competitors, even in the trade union and this has even led to protests and demonstrations.”