Homeless Man Warns Of Thriving Racket In Malta’s Catering Industry
A homeless Bulgarian man has flagged “colossal abuse” by Maltese restaurant and bar owners against young European employees.
Ivan Nikolov Kaoundijev, 57, is currently residing at the Dar Papa Frangisku homeless shelter in Fleur-de-Lys after he was recently fired from his job as a hotel receptionist. He has pledged to sue his former employers for alleged unpaid wages and bonuses, and has enlisted human rights lawyer Gianluca Cappitta to help sue them for damages for unfair dismissal.
He contacted Lovin Malta to spill the beans on his former employers, who he claims had fired him after he demanded they regularise his contract and who now owe him around €3,500. After speaking to the employers, we have decided not to publish details of his story as he had left out many crucial bits of information in his interview.
Kaoundijev warned a large chunk of the abuse is taking place in St Julian’s
“I’ve been fighting this case for the past two months and, while waiting in line at the authorities’ buildings, I met and spoke to many people in similar situations as my own,” he said. “Abuse is taking place on a colossal scale in Malta’s tourism industry, particularly in St Julian’s, against young European people.”
Kaoundijev said many of the aggrieved people he spoke to had found a job at a restaurant or bar after responding to job adverts calling for “European workers” which were stuck outside their establishments. However, the employers quickly dismiss them without forking out a cent to pay their wages.
Kaoundijev warned the Department of Industrial Relations is being flooded with maltreated catering employees
“They are hiring young girls and boys from Europe without a written contract for two weeks, but then when they turn up to work for the 15th day the employer pretends not to know who they are and threatens to call the police if they don’t get out,” he said.
“They are essentially squeezing these foreign workers for a few weeks and replacing them before paying their salaries. Some restaurants and bars refuse to hire Maltese workers because they know they have support systems and will fight their dismissal in court. In contrast, many foreigners won’t bother spending years in court over a few hundred euro and many will just return to their countries. That is what these employers are banking on – for these people to break down and leave Malta.”
Lovin Malta has sent questions to the tourism ministry and the Malta Tourism Authority but has not received a response as of the time of writing.
Do you have more information about this alleged racket? Please inform us on [email protected]
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