The rights of delivery workers in the catering sector and on digital product distribution platforms must be protected with a legislative framework and collective agreements
Statement by AKEL MP Giorgos Koukoumas after the meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Affairs Committee
1 March 2022
The debate on the working conditions and status of delivery workers in the catering sector and digital product distribution platforms (e.g. Foody, Wolt, etc.) started today in the Parliamentary Labour Affairs Committee, on the initiative of AKEL, supported by the Democratic Party.
A strong framework of protection for these workers is needed. On the one hand, from the point of view of safety and health, protecting them from the daily risks on the roads, the intensification of journeys, deliveries in the heat, cold or rain. On the other hand, a regulatory framework is needed to protect against the practice of arbitrarily subjecting workers on digital platforms to self-employed/”assistant” status. By doing so, employers are taking away labour and insurance rights, transferring to distributors the responsibility and costs for the means of transport (fuel, maintenance, technical checks), personal protective equipment, etc. This is a debate that has already begun across Europe and internationally, following strikes and workers’ mobilisations in a number of countries.
It was clear from the discussion today that the government does not intend to proceed with the tabling of such a protective legislative framework, but will wait when and provided that discussions at an EU level have been concluded. The employers’ associations have a similar attitude.
AKEL’s position is different. Cyprus should proceed with the adoption of legislation on work on digital platforms which regulates this new form of work in a way that protects workers, as countries such as Spain have already done. With a strong legislative framework but, at the same time, with collective labour agreements, we can and must protect a group of workers among the most vulnerable and lowest paid.
