“Imagine being on the road for 12 to 15 hours daily in sun, rain and storm to walk away at the end of the day with 40 euros in your pocket of which you also have to pay for your own fuel!” he said. 

According to the figures, it appears that most third-country national Bolt workers earn between €2.66 and €3.33 an hour on a good day. The minimum wage in Malta is €4.57.

“So the strike so far is going very well. We have a few ‘core couriers’ on the road who are patrolling and are speaking to couriers who they do find online. We have had quite a negative response from Bolt when we sent them the news articles,” the Bolt courier spokesperson told Lovin Malta.

“However, I do not believe that they have an inkling of how many couriers are joining in this fight.”

“This morning several areas were patrolled and not a single courier was found on the street, meaning that word is going around and we are receiving much more support than originally thought,” he explained.

“As you know our aim is for Bolt to raise our compensations, and thereby also speaking to the recruitment agencies as agency workers have paid a lot of money to start working here under inhumane conditions.”

The food courier also explained how the bonus rate has gone down significantly, while the base rate has remained the same.

“Our base rate has remained the same, at €2.60 for pick up and drop off and 40 cents per kilometre,” he explained. 

“However, where before peak hours were with a bonus per delivery – this has been lowered and has kept on being lowered over the past few months. We have spoken many times before but we are at an all-time low now.”

“Some people are getting €2.80 for a delivery which they have driven an X amount of kilometres for, waited perhaps for about 30 minutes  and then drove to the drop-off location.”

“So sometimes we do 45 minutes of work for €2.80 – is that humane? Keep in mind, the vehicle costs, fuel costs, NI and taxes are to be deducted.”

“Our bonus has been massively reduced and on top of that, they are adding new couriers on a daily basis. Meaning sometimes you are online for hours, driving around to gain extra change on getting a job appointed to you – making €16 if you are lucky,” the bolt courier explained.

Lovin Malta first reported yesterday that Bolt couriers are set to go on strike over massive decreases in their earnings and other disputes with the company.

Bolt Food also stated this morning that it is working towards optimising its pricing to help increase earnings in the wake of the strike called by couriers of the food delivery company.

Further developments are expected on this strike. 

What do you make of the strike?