The Pancyprian Federation of Labour (PEO) has announced that the first sectoral collective agreement covering delivery drivers in Cyprus and Europe was signed yesterday.
According to the General Secretary of SYXKA-PEO, Neofytos Timinis, the preliminary agreement is expected to be presented to the unions within the week and come into effect on August 1, 2024.
In an announcement, PEO stated that “after a year and a half of struggles and negotiations, a preliminary agreement was signed for the conclusion of a Sectoral Collective Agreement between the Unions and the companies involved. It is worth noting that only the Wolt platform participated in the dialogue, adopting a positive approach, while the other platforms refused to engage.”
PEO added that the agreement is effective for two years and lays “the foundations for a comprehensive regulation of the workers’ terms of employment in the sector.”
The announcement states that “notably, this is the first Collective Agreement for workers in this sector … and it is a result of the dynamic mobilisations of delivery workers that took place in December 2022.”
Furthermore, PEO noted that the agreement is crucial, as it protects one of the most vulnerable groups of workers.
Agreement not enough to protect workers, says IWW
The Industrial Workers of the World‘s Cyprus branch (IWW), however, stated in its announcement that even though this agreement is “very good news”, it is not clear whether workers’ conditions will actually improve.
“We would be remiss not to draw attention to the fact that collective bargaining and agreements are not the be-all and end-all of collective organising and industrial action,” IWW said and highlighted that the drivers did not participate en masse in the negotiations.
IWW further noted that close observation on the enforcement of the agreement is needed, however, it noted the limitations of trade unions to do so “since the paid officials of the trade unions who signed it do not work in the sector.”
“This is a testament to how inadequate are the traditional forms of collective bargaining when it comes to modern forms of employment,” IWW stressed.
The organisation added that most of the 2022 strikers, including the vast majority of their vanguard strike committee, have moved on to other jobs, or even to other countries.
“Without a militant base of workers ready to fight for its enforcement and protection, any collective agreement is meaningless,” IWW said.
This agreement is the result of negotiations by trade unions following multi-day strikes by Wolt delivery drivers in December 2022.
The strikers were protesting against their wages continuing to be slashed amid increasing fuel costs – which they have to cover themselves – and a higher cost of living.
Strikers told in-cyprus at the time that working terms were already unfair, with their incomes amounting to €400-€500 per month. The strikers also noted that they have to buy the equipment they use (jacket, delivery box, helmet) from the company.
