Cab Fleet Companies To Form Association After Abela Says Malta Has Enough Drivers And Couriers
Cab fleet companies operating in Malta are banding together to set up an association that will seek to engage with government and put forward proposals, in light of the government’s decision to deny hundreds of work permits to third country nationals already working in Malta.
Yesterday, Lovin Malta revealed that hundreds of third-country nationals (TCNs) working in the cab and food courier industry had been refused work permits at the last stage of application, after having been led to believe that their application was to be accepted.
A large number of these workers are employed with companies that operate large fleets of cars which are engaged by popular ride-hailing platforms. Lovin Malta spoke with several of these operators, all of whom expressed their disappointment at the fact that they had not been consulted by the government before these changes were implemented.
Prime Minister Robert Abela reacted to the news by declaring that “the country has enough cab drivers and food couriers”. Yet, many in the industry disagree.
The founder of WFDM Ltd Mantvydas Matthew Narusevicius warned that the decision will not only hurt companies such as his own, but it will also impact other sectors of the economy.
Fewer workers, he said, meant fewer people renting homes, fewer drivers paying for fuel, and fewer people buying groceries. He also argued that his industry had created several economic opportunities and had contributed substantially to the country’s GDP. As a result, he would have expected changes to be introduced in a more controlled and thought-out manner.
Narusevicius insisted that the fleet companies were open to calm and “peaceful” dialogue with the government to come up with a practical way forward that will have as few negative impacts as possible.
Change business model or else
A second company representative that employs fewer people but is still a prominent provider alleged that after finally getting in touch with JobsPlus, they were told that its business model needs to shift to one that employs more European workers and fewer TCNs.
“They told us to attract different people because they don’t want more TCNs,” the representative, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
This, all companies agreed, is unrealistic. Besides the fact that shifting an economic model would take time, the companies explained that most local and European employees do not want to be cab drivers or food couriers.
All companies agreed that the next step is to engage in productive dialogue with the government through the new association.
Permit refusals hit other sectors
While the spotlight has been on the cab and food courier industries, it appears that other sectors have also been impacted. One HR professional working at a local cleaning company that employs many third-country nationals said that several of their workers had received similar refusal letters despite paying a €300 renewal fee and already working in Malta. They said other companies had faced similar problems in recent weeks.
Similarly, a business owner in the tourism sector who employs third-country nationals and who wished to remain anonymous, said they were unsure how they were going to manage to see the rest of the season through given that a considerable number of their staff had been refused work permits.
If you have been affected by these permit refusals, reach out to [email protected] to share your story
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