“The members want to be recognised as employees and therefore if the members or taxi drivers are regarded as employees it is then easier to control the industry. As long as the drivers are regarded as individual contractors and whereby they do not receive any kind of benefits within the industry, I don’t think that things will change much,” said Namibia Transport and Taxi Union President Mr. Werner Januarie.
“We are advocating for the reform of professionalization of the industry so that it is easier to provide training to members, and after you provide the training is whereby you can hold them against the training that they have received and say that we have given you such a training, why are you still contravening the laws, while you have been properly trained and you have all the information at your disposal as not to contravene the laws,” Januarie added.
Januarie stated that members throughout the country will embark on a nationwide strike come 20 September 2016. He stressed that apart from the need of basic benefits and the high traffic fines issued to taxi drivers, Januarie said the strike includes the fact that there are too many foreigners in the industry driving taxis while there is no shortage of Namibian drivers in the country.
Spotlight News sat down with Mr. Werner Januarie President of the Namibia Transport and Taxi Union (NTTU) on recognising taxi drivers as employees, the need for basic employee benefits for taxi drivers, the fact that Government is not responding to members’ plea, the upcoming national taxi driver strike and the mushrooming of foreign taxi drivers in the country.
-Article and Interview by Maggie Forcelledo