‘What Kind Of Socialism Is This?’ Jon Mallia Asks Over ‘Ghettos’ And Food Couriers’ Wages
Leading podcast host Jon Mallia has called out the government for its failure to prevent the formation of “ghettoes” within Maltese towns and villages and for the poor salaries on offer for foreign food couriers.
“We have ghettos and we’ve actually had them for a while,” Mallia wrote. “Communities are populated by people from Third World countries and poor Maltese people who have no other choice but to share their block of apartments with migrants.”
“I was raised in Ħamrun and while I don’t remember it ever resembling Beverly Hills, you don’t tie an anchor to the feet of a drowning man unless you want him to drown. Adding more problems to the stack of problems that already exist is the opposite of finding a solution.”
Mallia questioned why the government took a “half-hearted” approach to the proper integration of asylum seekers and instead allowed companies to bring over several people from Third World countries to work in the gig economy.
“Some of them don’t even earn €3 an hour, less than half the minimum wage,” he said, referring to concerns raised by Bolt Food couriers during a recent strike.
“This means more poverty, more ghettos, more gangs, more fear, more anger and more politicians who fan the flames rather than going to the heart of the problem.”
“When polices to import thousands of people from Third World countries were being drafted, what plans were put in place for the villages in which they were going to live? Why was business accommodated without any consideration to the working class? What kind of socialism is this?”
Jon Mallia will discuss Malta’s gig economy and the issues faced by the island’s gig couriers in a video that will be published on Lovin Malta tomorrow. Until then, you can watch the trailer below.
Do you think food couriers require better work conditions?
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