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30 taxi drivers lose jobs for striking work

SHARJAH — Services of over 30 drivers of Emirates Taxi were terminated by the management for "instigating a strike and refusing to obey the rules laid down by the company."

Earlier this month, nearly 700 drivers of Emirates Taxi had gone on strike protesting the increase in their daily targets from Dh250 to Dh275. They had also complained that they were forced to pay for their visas and labour card renewals. This was in addition to the miscellaneous other expenses they had to incur.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Ahmed Hamza, Operations Manager of Emirates Taxi, said: “We tried to negotiate with the drivers but they refused to budge from their demand which was to reverse the increase. Therefore, we contacted the Labour Department and asked them to resolve the issue.”

“We also learnt that several drivers were forced to join with ‘this gang’ in the strike and were threatened that if they did not do so, they would be beaten up,” said Hamza.

He pointed out that following the intervention of the Labour Department, 730 drivers returned to work while 30 were asked to leave. “The government and the company do not encourage drivers to resort to strikes. We nipped the problem in the bud by terminating the services of those drivers who we thought were creating problems,” he added.

In a report published earlier in Khaleej Times, Hamza had warned that if negotiations between the drivers and the management failed, then the company might take ‘needful steps'.

Giving their viewpoint, a driver said: “We are not happy with the increase in the target but, we will continue to work because we have no other option. We had taken part in the strike because we thought that the company would solve our problems. But nothing happened.”

The terminated drivers could not be contacted for their comments.

Taxi drivers in the UAE have been complaining of ill treatment for the past few months and demanding proper rights.