Uber and Bolt drivers in Lagos State are set to stop work and ignore rides on the 1st of May, 2025. The drivers recently decided to engage in a 24-hour protest against the terrible working conditions and anti-labour practices they keep having to deal with.
The Lagos chapter of the Amalgamated Union of App-Based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON) has since announced that all of its members will completely abandon their transportation duties on International Workers’ Day as they demand proper compensation, safer working conditions, and total regard for their rights as drivers.
According to a press statement by AUATON’s Public Relations Officer, Steven Iwindoye, the protest is meant to tackle lingering issues, including low wages, unfair deactivations, insecurity, and inconsiderate working environments. He revealed that drivers under its association demand an immediate end to the ridiculous commission charges, lack of effective rider ID, compulsory facial recognition systems, and many other policies that were only formulated to exploit them.
“The Amalgamated Union of App-Based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON), Lagos State Chapter, is planning a 24-hour protest on May Day over alleged anti-labour practices by app-based companies, including Uber, Bolt.
Members would be staying off the apps, refusing to work, and demanding that their rights be respected.
The union is protesting against alleged poor wages, insecurity, and unsafe working conditions. Others are excessive commissions taken by app companies, lack of proper rider profiles, mandatory facial recognition systems, and harmful and exploitative work policies,” he said.
Steven added that the different application-based transport companies scattered across Nigeria have repeatedly ignored the serious concerns of AUATON members and continuously show complete disregard for their rights as workers, hence the long overdue protest.
He maintained that while dialogue has been tested to seek solutions to the present problems, it has failed time and time again, leaving AUATON with no choice but to apply pressure on the economy via a tactical shutdown.
What This Strike Means For Nigerians:
If the protest holds as planned, the strike will most likely lead to disrupted movement across Lagos State. Young and old Nigerians who regularly rely on these ride-hailing apps for their seamless transportation from one to place to another might be left stranded, especially because the other alternatives will definitely take advantage by increasing their price.
This won’t stop the protest, however, as the aim is to prove the importance of affected drivers to the erring companies like Bolt, Uber, Lagride, inDrive, and Rida, who have stubbornly refused to take their rights as valuable workers seriously till now.
