‘Stop Your Exploit’: Malta’s Y-Plate Drivers To Hold Carcade Protest On Wednesday Over Poor Pay And Working Conditions
A collective of Y-plate cab drivers is set to stage a demonstration on 28th February to protest against inadequate pay and poor working conditions.
“Stop your exploit,” said the group of cab drivers belonging to the Light Passenger Operators Association (LPOA), who are scheduled to gather at the Farmers Parking area in Ta’ Qali at 8 am for a carcade headed to Marsa.
The LPOA represents drivers licensed to operate light passenger transport vehicles, often known as Y-plate vehicles, which are reserved via phone calls and ride-hailing applications.
Last summer, the LPOA held a similar demonstration, lobbying Malta’s major ride-hailing platforms for better rates, but to no avail, after two of the three biggest companies, Uber and Bolt, expressed their unwillingness to raise drivers’ wages.
A few months later, in October, Y-plate drivers and operators, this time not endorsed by the LPOA, gathered in Pembroke to protest a law that fines drivers €500 for parking illegally in public spaces, as well as a Transport Malta regulation requiring the vehicles to have adequate commercial garages.
It is not the first time that Y-plate driver horror stories have come to light – earlier this month, a Maltese cab passenger hurled racial abuse at a Libyan driver.
Last July, a cab driver in Malta was robbed, an incident that sparked serious concerns about the lack of support services in the industry.
The perpetrators took off with €400, debit cards, and documents that were in his backpack, leaving the driver to chase after them. Despite managing to retain his phone from one of the robbers, the driver was left distraught and unprotected.
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