Wolt recruiter threatens striking riders with the sack

The man responsible for recruiting riders for food delivery company Wolt on Saturday threatened striking workers with termination, and also threatened to report them to the migration department, the Cyprus Mail has learned.

Mantvydas Matthew Narusevicius is the chief executive officer of Maltese company WFDM, which is responsible for recruiting third-country nationals to work for Wolt in Cyprus, Albania and Malta.

He sent messages to a Whatsapp group chat of Wolt riders on Saturday morning ordering all drivers to “go online or resign today”, before adding, “enough of bullshit”.

“Everyone will be suspended from wages. I don’t care any more. F*ck your stupid strikes,” he said, before ordering the local fleet manager, known only as “Mani”, to “fire all who are a part of [the] strike or did not work”.

He then added that he will “forward” information to the migration department.

“Mani” appeared to be in a more amenable mood, writing a message in the group chat offering riders who chose to work instead of striking on Saturday a 100 per cent bonus.

Narusevicius replied to this message by saying “fire instead”, with “Mani” returning to the group half an hour by offering €50 bonuses to all riders who completed 20 deliveries on Saturday.

The riders, meanwhile, held two demonstrations in Limassol, gathering both on Archbishop Leontios Avenue and the city’s central Anexartisia Street.

They held banners demanding “stable employment”, “fair pay for delivery riders”, and an end to what they described as “exploitation” on the part of Wolt.

The strike had been announced on Friday, with one driver, speaking on the condition of anonymity, telling the Cyprus Mail that Wolt intends to reduce the fare it pays riders to execute deliveries.

“We are not receiving fair income for the work we do. Despite working from morning until evening, the pay we receive is extremely low and not justified,” they said.

They intend to remain on strike until next Friday.

Akis Stamoulis, Wolt’s spokesperson for Cyprus and Greece, had told the Cyprus Mail on Friday that the company was aware of the strike, but that it did not believe a large number of riders would partake.

“According to my knowledge, it’s 20 people in Limassol who have announced a strike,” he said.

Narusevicius founded WFDM in 2020, with the company being described by Maltese business magazine Whoswho.Mt as a “global recruitment, consulting, and immigration consulting company”.

The magazine added that WFDM has “successfully assisted hundreds of foreign nationals from diverse countries … to successfully relocate to Malta and secure jobs with prominent companies on the island, including Wolt”.