Food delivery couriers turn to union amid dwindling salaries, conditions

Some 200 couriers have joined the General Workers’ Union in recent weeks as delivery drivers, mainly from non-EU countries, continue complaining about poor earnings.

Couriers claim that their earnings have gone down since 2021, with their working conditions akin to modern-day slavery.

On Wednesday afternoon, dozens of couriers, mostly from India, attended a meeting at the GWU premises to discuss their situation working on the Wolt platform.

The union’s food and hospitality secretary, Kevin Abela, said that following the meeting, the GWU now represents just shy of 200 couriers.

At the meeting, one courier said the main issue with working on popular food delivery apps is low pay, and it has been gradually decreasing over the years.

“Since 2021, our pay has been steadily getting worse,” he said.

“If before you could earn €100 in eight hours, now you might earn half that amount after working 14 or 15 hours,” said the man, who is self-employed on the Wolt platform.

Another attendee added that because third-country national workers are employed by fleets, couriers give a cut of earnings from the revenue earned on the Wolt app.

Platforms like Bolt and Wolt do not employ couriers. While some drivers on the Wolt app can work independently, almost all drivers are employed by companies, known as fleets, that provide delivery services.

On paper, their employment conditions are bound by legislation that took effect in January 2023, but in practice, couriers work within a revenue-sharing agreement with their employer.

As earnings on platforms get lower, couriers on Thursday said it is becoming harder to make a living and afford essentials like rent and groceries.

“Many of us work 14- or 15-hour days, but I even know some who work 20 hours, sleep for four, and go back to work again,” another meeting attendee said.

Speaking to the 120 or so couriers that attended the meeting at the GWU conference room, Abela called on couriers to become union members and tell their colleagues to do so as well.

“Before we do anything, we need to be organised,” he said.

Once the union has a large enough representation, it can lobby on behalf of couriers with the apps and authorities.

Similarly, GWU deputy general secretary Kevin Camilleri said: “The biggest enemy you face is a lack of solidarity... if you are not united, nothing will change and things will stay the same or get even worse.”

Law is often ignored

The Digital Platform Delivery Wages Council Wage Regulation Order guarantees couriers at least a minimum wage for working a 40-hour week.

They are also entitled to overtime at a time-and-a-half rate; double pay on rest days; sick, injury, bereavement, marriage leave, vacation leave and statutory bonuses.

According to the law, fleets are obliged to provide those conditions to their couriers, but if a driver provides their services to a platform directly, it is the platform that must take on the responsibility of an employer.

Couriers, however, said the provisions in the legislation are regularly ignored, and while they may have signed contracts that follow the law, the reality on the ground is very different.

Workers instead earn money via a revenue-sharing agreement with their boss. In this system, the courier is given 60 per cent of the revenue generated by his work, while the owner keeps the rest.

On Wednesday, some couriers said they earn less than the minimum wage per hour, so they compensate by working long hours.

The government’s employment condition watchdog, the Department For Industrial and Employment Relations has taken dozens of fleet owners to court over the issue.

Some 39 fleet operators were arraigned in March after an investigation carried out by the DIER found widespread breaches of the Digital Platform Delivery Wages Council Wage Regulation Order.

Together, the companies make up a significant chunk of Malta’s courier sector.

The court heard that the breaches meant workers missed out on hundreds of thousands of euros.