Updated 2.05pm with Żminijietna statement
Trade unions should join forces to present a common front and protect food couriers employed by agencies that are breaking employment laws, Malta’s green party has argued.
ADPD chairperson Carmel Cacopardo noted that while some agencies that provide workers to food delivery companies abided by regulations, others did not “while the state looks on without implementing measures to control the situation”.
The vast majority of such drivers are immigrant workers.
Times of Malta reported last week that the Department of Industrial Relations has found widespread abuse of employment law in companies that hire such couriers, who are then engaged to work for companies like Wolt and Bolt Food.
The DIER study found multiple issues with many such employment contracts, from a lack of rest periods to no overtime or leave provisions, couriers being made to pay for their uniform and work equipment and agencies not paying social security contributions.
Although authorities have provided guidelines for companies employing such workers, few firms respect them. Fixing the problem is especially difficult as in many cases couriers are willing to turn a blind eye to working conditions to get paid more cash in hand which they can then remit back home.
Cacopardo said that the failure to properly regulate the sector meant that rule-abiding companies were being placed at a commercial disadvantage to competitors who cut corners.
“Workers’ Day should remind us that the economy cannot ride roughshod over workers, be they Maltese or immigrant,” argued Cacopardo.
Żminijietna wants better laws
The ADPD's calls for more legal safeguards for such workers was echoed by leftist think-tank Żminijietna, which said the government was procrastinating to introduce legislation to regulate the food delivery sector.
"All workers should be entitled to a secure monthly salary, the right to sick leave and leave, and the right to collective bargaining," Żminijietna argued, noting that countries like Spain and Portugal had introduced laws to regulate such work.
Żminijietna also argued that employment legislation should be updated to allow for more flexible work scheduling and to allow for more remote working.
'Stain on our conscience'
ADPD deputy chairperson Mario Mallia said that an unacceptable number of workers were still working in conditions “prevalent 100 years ago”.
“This remains a stain on our collective conscience,” argued Mallia. “The state has the responsibility of assuring decent conditions that respect the dignity of all workers.”
Mallia noted that a migrant worker had died at a construction site accident just a few days ago. The death had been largely ignored and met with a “general sense of indifference,” he said.
“How many more workers need to die for the state to take the bull by its horns and address the issue of exploitation of migrant workers?” he asked, referencing the construction industry in particular.
The victim in question was just 25 years old and from Syria. He died in an accident at a San Ġwann building site.