Some 70 representatives from 22 countries to attend:
Boost for Sri Lankan tourist sector:
App-based transport workers from 22 countries are set to meet at a three-day international conference to be held in Colombo later this month to press home several demands to their direct and indirect employers.
The conference is sponsored by the International Alliance of App-Based Transport Workers (IAATW) and they chose Sri Lanka for the Government’s tolerance and cooperation towards local trade unions, the people’s hospitality and above all the reasonable hotel and other rates throughout the country when compared with other South Asian nations, a spokesman for the grouping said.
“Not only that a large number of App-Based drivers are involved in the tourist sector and they have been encouraged to hold this conference in Sri Lanka since the island-nation has earned positive publicity in the international arena as a tourist friendly destination with clean beaches, world heritage sites and much more”, Dilshan Charith Attanapola said.
“At the end of the day those participating in the Colombo Conference will carry a positive message of tourism in Lanka to the hundreds of thousands of customers that hire their vehicles in their countries.
Mouth to mouth communication is a very effective and positive way of providing publicity”, Attanapola said. The Colombo conference will host some 75 delegates from 22 countries and many of them would be accompanied with their families and friends, according to Attanapola. He added that is also the first such conference of this nature to be held in Sri Lanka which will no doubt give a boost to the local tourist industry in the future.
The conference will be held from February 22 to 25.
It all started in January 2020 when app-based drivers from 16 countries and six continents convened in Oxford, England, to launch an international federation of driver organisations. Together they were committed to advancing the rights of drivers and the dignity of the profession across the globe, by working together, across political, geographic, and company boundaries, to build real power for drivers and other app-based transport workers.
IAATW has three key objectives
The three key objectives of IAATW is to develop and execute global campaigns – launched at the global and local levels – against app-based multinationals, to advance their rights and dignity, to build and expand capacity to organise into strong, grassroots organisations and unions, in every continent, and build solidarity, cooperation and knowledge across the affiliated organisations to increase the capacity to take on both local driver issues as well as the global industry.
