Wellington taxi driver: Anonymous driver on the five drivers suspended after using parents’ room to heat dinners

Wellington Airport has suspended five taxi drivers from using its taxi rank after they used the parents’ room to heat their dinners.

The airport contacted the taxi companies two months ago to warn against drivers using the parents’ room for privacy and hygiene reasons - but this was not passed on to all taxi staff.

One anonymous driver who avoided suspension has labelled this move 'unreasonable' 

"I did it after asking two of the food officials in airport uniform if we could heat the food in the microwave in the parents' room and they happily said they didn't mind as long as we cleaned up after."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wellington Airport has suspended five taxi drivers from using its
taxi rank as punishment for them using the parents room
to heat up their dinners. The parents room is a
space where parents can change babies nappies and you know,
warm up the milk bottles and stuff like that. Now,
one of the Wellington Airport taxi drivers, who hasn't been
banned and wishes to remain anonymous.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Is with us now Hello, hello, honey, how are you.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
I'm very well, thank you. Now you heated your food
up in the parents room?

Speaker 3 (00:24):
May yeah, I did, and I also did it after
asking two of the airport off shields in airport uniform
if we could heat the food in the microwave in
the parents room, and they happily said, and on mind,
as long as.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
We cleaned up after and just because the cleaning ladies
they get pretty fu furious about it, so yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah, we'll be a cleaning lady getting furious. What's the
problem with you guys using the microwave for three minutes?

Speaker 2 (01:00):
And that's the problem. I don't see as well, but
I think it's a food contamination or health and safety
risk for the newborn babies. And totally understand that where
they're coming from, and I respect that as.

Speaker 4 (01:11):
Well, so isn't it.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
I mean, that's absolute nonsense, because if you're like nobody,
every mom who's going to have a bottle in there
is going to have the bottle covered while they're heating
it up, aren't they?

Speaker 2 (01:23):
That is true as well? Well?

Speaker 4 (01:25):
I think reasonable, what do you think it?

Speaker 2 (01:28):
They are being very unreasonable and they're just looking for
any reason to ban taxi drivers as at the moment
and the environment we are working, and they're just there's
a lot of factors involved. Maybe they're promoting Uber because
they are paying more money to the airport, and I
just think like it comes all back down to the
money for them.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
And they are not generating enough revenue from the taxi robbers, maybe.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
The taxi dribbers.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
Okay they've banned.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah, they're bantastic drivers for picking up a prayer from
number nine, whereas the similar company was not even available
in the front.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
What's number nine?

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Number nine is the number first page faces of the Oh, I.

Speaker 4 (02:14):
See like people company, Yeah yeah, I see.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
You're only supposed to pick up the people at the
front of the line, not not if your ninth and.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Okay, customer choosers. That's actually not the
driver chooses the customer.

Speaker 4 (02:26):
They say that you have got a taxi cafe that
you can use, but that sounds to me like a
place where they sell you food rather than you being
able to bring in your own food and warm it up.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
That is true, this little food and coffee.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
Okay, all right, listen, thank you for this. I really
appreciate you explaining that to us. It's a Wellington near
Port taxi driver right now, it's twenty one away from six.
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