We are struggling' - Food couriers on strike say they earn €3 per hour

Описание: Kaseri said some 345 couriers are protesting low pay after the platform slashed their weekend bonus.

On normal days they would make €2 per delivery, they said, but on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays - when the platform is busiest - this would go up to €4 or €4.50.

"But this bonus scheme has been cancelled by Bolt and we are getting a flat rate throughout the whole week," they said, adding that they can barely go by with what they are left with.

Times of Malta has seen some of their earnings, confirming they get between €2 and €2.50 per delivery.

'Earnings per hour have increased' - Bolt
In a reply to questions, Bolt Malta said it was aware of the strike "by a small group of couriers" and that it "firmly" believed that happy couriers provided a better service to the people they deliver to.

It said courier earnings per hour have been increasing over the past months, following a rise in deliveries per hour compared to last year.

But the 345 couriers who are on strike do not feel better off, Kaseri added.

"We earn a maximum of €700 per month. We are not saving anything, we are spending it here only and we are not managing to send anything back home," 48-year-old Shakeel Ahmed said.

In January last year the government put into effect the Wage Regulation Order, which was meant to guarantee couriers a minimum wage, overtime, double pay on rest days, sick, injury and vacation leave and an exemption from paying for equipment and fuel.

But the couriers who spoke to Times of Malta said they have none of that.

"The law has not been implemented, it was only done on paper," said 32-year-old Sandeep Singh.