An app-based workers union representing over 100,000 Uber drivers and other app-based drivers across 20 countries have united to boycott Chevron-branded gas stations, including Texaco and Caltex, in alignment with the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) campaign and the call for solidarity by Palestine trade unions.
Chevron: feeling the force of BDS
The International Alliance of App-Based Transport Workers (IAATW) is a global federation representing over 100,000 drivers and couriers across 20 countries and six continents, including South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Mexico, Panama, Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Argentina, USA, Canada, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, France, Australia, and the U.K.
At its bi-annual international conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, IAATW delegates unanimously passed motions showing their unequivocal support for Palestine and commitment to actions in line with the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement and the unprecedented call from more than 30 Palestinian trade unions.
The BNC said:
The BDS movement reiterates its call on supporters of Palestinian rights and climate justice, particularly workers and labor unions, to escalate divestment and boycott campaigns against Chevron (and all its gas stations…
This motion reiterated IAATW’s statement from October 2023 and committed to concrete action by adopting the BDS call against oil companies complicit in Israel’s occupation.
Apartheid and genocide
As part of these solidarity efforts, IAATW drivers pledged to boycott Chevron-branded gas stations, including Texaco and Caltex, operating in all IAATW member countries. The union believes that refusing to support entities complicit in perpetuating injustices against Palestinians is a critical step towards justice and accountability.
Chevron has generated billions of dollars in revenue for apartheid Israel as the leading “international actor extracting gas claimed by Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean” – helping to fund the ongoing genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.
Chevron is directly involved in Israel’s policy and practice of depriving the Palestinian people of their right to sovereignty over their natural resources.
Chevron: complicit
IAATW said:
Inspired by the 1987 oil embargo against Shell for its role in South African apartheid, we, the app-based passenger transport sector for companies such as Uber, Deliveroo, JustEat, Free Now, Glovo, Lyft, Grab, DoorDash, Grubhub, Amazon, Ola, Gojek, Didi, Bolt, Careems, reiterate Palestinians’ calls for action and pledge to boycott the thousands of Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex gas and petrol stations worldwide.
To build this campaign within IAATW and beyond, delegates also committed to reaching out and working with other app-based transport unions to encourage them to echo these demands and organise an international education day.
IAATW noted:
Finally, IAATW pledges to investigate and take action against app companies utilising Israeli technology complicit in the genocide perpetrated against Palestinians.
IAATW stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and the Palestinian labour movement and their struggle for national liberation; we reiterate calls for an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israeli apartheid and military occupation and call on other labour unions to do the same.
You can find out more about the BDS Chevron campaign here.
Featured image via the BNC
