They are migrant workers – asylum seekers and students – trying to make an honest living. They deliver our food, drinks and groceries, day or night, rain or shine. They get “paid” to bring our orders to our doors, but not for the return trip. They are getting attacked and robbed by gangs of violent racists. Their direct employers (contractors called fleet managers) are getting 30-40% commission off their salaries, force them to cover their entire Social Insurance and General Health System contributions by themselves, do not pay anything for overtime, violate the collective agreement and have them provide, fuel and service their own vehicles. And their indirect employers, in this case the platform Wolt (subsidiary of DoorDash) is reducing their pay rates all the time, while the cost of living rises.
Until they said NO MORE! Drivers delivering for Wolt announced a week-long strike this past Friday (20/3/2026) and they have been organising strike gatherings and rallies in Limassol, Nicosia and Larnaca every day since then!
Wolt, on its part, is taking strike breaking to another level. When temporarily raising the pay rates and offering bonuses (tactics it used in vain back in the strike of 2022 as well) did not convince the drivers to break the strike, the management’s mafia henchmen beat up strikers, put guns on their heads, threatened to run them over if they saw them on the street, even vandalised the car of a striker.
And the police? They did their job, by protecting the interests of the company! When strikers in Limassol and Nicosia went to report these crimes to the police, they were told to go back to their countries! These strikers should count themselves lucky; during the end of the strike rally in Limassol on Sunday (22/3), cops in plain clothes arrived at the scene brandishing guns and canisters of pepper spray, joined the band of goons surrounding the managers, and attacked strikers and solidarity activists, threatening them with arrests. A similar incident happened at the strike rally in Nicosia today (Monday, 23/3), when uniformed cops violently attacked and almost arrested one of our organisers, who was saved by his fellow workers.
The obstacles these strikers face do not end there. Today the strikers in Limassol went to the local governmental Labour Office, to declare their demands. Their delegation was met with indifference by the officials, who told them to seek justice in courts. Moreover, Wolt is putting pressure on the few media outlets which are reporting about the strike to take down their articles, or the company will stop advertising with them. And, of course, the company is deleting the accounts of drivers, basically firing them for striking!
Despite the threats of management, the indifference of the government, the lackluster media coverage, the abuse and brutality of police and the violence of hired thugs, the strike continues and grows, as more and more drivers are joining in! Tomorrow (Tuesday, 24/3) delegations from the strikers from all cities, along with representatives from major trade unions, are meeting the employers at the Limassol Labour Office. Although there is little to be expected from such meetings, especially given the treatment the strikers received when they went there today, it should be noted that in 2022 it took ten days of strike for the government to arrange such a meeting, twice the time as in this strike!
Regardless of the result of tomorrow’s meeting, the drivers are determined to continue their struggle for justice! And all of us, along with the many organisations and activists which have already expressed their solidarity in a plethora of ways, will be standing right next to them!
An Injury to One is an Injury to All!
