Topic: Locking Down the Impact of COVID-19: Appraising State and Private Measures for App-based Transport and Delivery Workers

https://cis-india.org/raw/ifat-itf-locking-down-the-impact-of-covid-19-report

Speaker:  Shaik Salauddin has been working with Ola Cabs (one of the two biggest app-based ride-hail companies in India) since 2012, and has been a driver organiser in Hyderabad (capital city of Telangana State) since 2014. In his career as an organiser, Shaik has worn a number of hats. In 2014, he founded the Telangana Four Wheeler Drivers’ Association to represent the interests of outsourced, contracted, and other private drivers. In 2016, he established the Telangana State Taxi and Drivers’ Joint Action Committee, which brought 18 drivers’ unions in the State under one organisational umbrella. In 2019, he was elected the newly-formed National General Secretary of the ‘Indian Federation of App- based Transport Workers’ (IFAT), a coalition of 20 workers’ associations from 15 cities across India, collectively having around 35,000 members. In this role, Shaik has helped to advise and coordinate efforts across states, from raising funds to distributing PPE and food supplies, to meeting with policymakers, and organising strikes. This year, he has started a new organisation called the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers’ Union, through which he hopes to broaden his sights beyond ride-hail workers to all gig workers in Telangana state.