"In Cyprus, Food-Delivery Riders Went on Strike to Be Treated Like Workers", 8 Jan 2023

On Monday, December 12, riders for Wolt, a Europe-wide food-delivery company, went on strike in Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus. Later that week, riders in the resort town of Limassol followed suit. The workers taking action against the firm — mostly immigrants from India and Nepal — then mobilized others in Paphos, Larnaca, and the main urban centers of Cyprus. The workers demanded a pay raise, as well as a lowering of the commission that middlemen currently take from their paychecks...

Jamie, a student originally from eastern Nepal, told me that, “The fleet managers make the rules to benefit themselves. We want the official franchise, Wolt, to put some restrictions on what fleet managers can do.” ...

Today they get €2.26 per successful delivery, and out of that, a massive 41 percent goes to the middlemen known as “fleet managers.” In a press release, Wolt claimed that “average hourly earnings have been steadily increasing over the past six weeks and now stand at €8.50.”

But most Wolt riders aren’t directly employed by the company: indeed, some 80 percent of the 2,800 workers are employed via fleet managers, and only the remaining fifth get the prime rate of €8.50. There is not one single middleman, but different companies with which Wolt has direct contact...

The firm also imposes other costs on workers. Jamie and other workers talked about how they had to buy Wolt vests, jackets, and backpacks, as well as their own motorcycles and mobile phones. Everything they use for their work comes out of their own pocket, and that is after the middlemen take a 41 percent cut...

At Wolt headquarters in Nicosia, two people from management came from inside the building and asked the workers to come in groups of twelve to express their concerns. Jamie and Chris did not move, and neither did any of their colleagues. They stood together, saying that they would not go inside without the union to lead the negotiations. Jamie said, “they want to divide the people, to identify who we are and to block us on the platforms. We already told them everything in the previous days, they know what we want.”

Wolt responded by saying, “we totally respect couriers’ right to express their opinion. The reason why certain courier accounts were suspended is for accepting orders without delivery and therefore, it was necessary to ensure proper operation of the platform and customer service.” ...

After nine days, the strike came to a halt on December 21 after the government’s labor department intervened to find a solution to the problem. The workers, however, refused to enter negotiations without legal protections — knowing that otherwise the “troublemakers” would surely be fired.

What happened in Cyprus is only one piece of the greater puzzle of gig work that has spurred dissent and strikes over recent years. Jamie said that the dispute has calmed down with the onset of negotiations, with talks planned for January 12. But delivery riders “are still ready to keep on fighting if needed — and won’t stop till they get what they deserve.”