Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1536968
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 29 JUNE 2025 FEATURE cruitment agency did not provide any work. This was highly unusual given that in order to be allowed to enter Mal- ta for work purposes, a TCN must first secure a job. After wasting six months, Isha found a job as a cleaner without the help of her recruitment agency. However, she first needed to tell her recruitment agency, since on paper she was listed as their employee. She required a termination letter. But the recruitment agency demand- ed what it claimed were €1,500 in taxes that Isha supposedly owed even though she had not worked for six months. Af- ter she refused, the agency terminated her employment contract, but the ter- mination was backdated by six months. On paper this meant she had been in Malta illegally all the time. The practice of backdated termina- tions is not uncommon. By law, TCNs have a maximum of 10 days to find a new job after they end up jobless. But when terminating employment, some employers abusively backdate the ter- mination by at least 10 days, effectively putting the employee in a state of im- mediate illegality. Unaware of the backdated termina- tion, Isha applied for a proper job, but upon seeing the termination letter, Identità informed her that she was ille- gally residing in Malta. She is now con- testing the termination. Tanika: The cleaner fired while on holiday Tanika* arrived in Malta for her new job in 2022 after paying a recruitment agency €9,000 for work visas for herself and her husband. Her salary was a mere €1,100 per month, and she didn't find much luck when she changed her job and started working as a cleaner. The General Workers' Union's fight for abused workers THE number of people profiting from the abusive working conditions and abys- mal salaries is high and ranges from small business owners to large companies. Despite the bleak picture, there are some who offer a ray of hope for the hopeless in Malta. One of these people is Kevin Abela, the Secretary of the Food and Hospitality Section within the Gen- eral Workers' Union (GWU). Speaking with MaltaToday, Abela ex- plains that among the many cases of abuse he handles are cases where em- ployers pay their workers a smaller salary than what was agreed upon. He details one particular case where an employee was supposed to receive a sala- ry of €1,000 per month, but his employer would only give him €800. The deduction came with a myriad of excuses that kept changing every month. Abela says the employee was entitled to €13,000 in unpaid salaries, and the GWU was in talks with the employer to ensure that what is due is truly paid. Another incident included an employer who wasn't paying his worker's National Insurance tax. Abela noted that the em- ployee only found out about this after he needed medical attention at Mater Dei Hospital and later received a €2,600 bill. Again, the GWU stepped in and saw to it that the employer settled the bill. Abela explains how abuse and illegali- ties in the sector come in many ways, cit- ing an instance where TCNs working as housekeeping staff in a hotel were told by their bosses that if they join a union, they would not be eligible for pay increases— an illegal condition. Abela explains that a common pattern among abused workers from outside the EU is the practice of backdating termina- tions, adding that employers do this to spite their employees and effectively ren- der them illegal immigrants immediately. "This is usually followed by an appeal in front of the Immigration Appeals Board," Abela says, describing the process as "a limbo". Abela notes that TCNs with on- going appeals cannot work legally and thus turn desperate and are more likely to be abused. In replies sent to MaltaToday, a spokes- person from the Home Affairs Ministry said that as of 18 June, there are 4,982 people awaiting a decision by the appeals board. "From 2020 to date, a total of 13,784 appeals have been decided, out of which 50.8% were rejected and 30.3% were withdrawn," the spokesperson said, con- firming that TCNs appealing a rejection of their single permit application are not allowed to work in Malta while on ap- peal. Kevin Abela clarifies that while most employers are fair with their employees, the scale of the abuse is alarming. "There are workers out there who aren't paid bonuses and overtime while they work more than 40 hours a week." On top of this, Abela says that it's not unheard of for employers to threaten their workers. Last May, the GWU wel- comed about 200 workers employed as food couriers within its fold. Abela says that while these workers were at the union's premises, some were threatened by their bosses. In fact, the photo of the couriers who joined the union that was sent to the media only pictured the new members from the back to keep them anonymous. Abela says the GWU is currently working on reaching a form of collec- tive agreement for food couriers and negotiations with the Malta Deliv- ery Fleet Operators Association have reached an advanced stage. MATTHEW FARRUGIA mfarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt << CONTINUES FROM PREVIOUS PAGE Regularly dehumanised and subjected to slave-like working conditions, these are the labourers on which Malta's economic success of the past decade has largely been built.