Outsourcing company, Innovative Staffing Solutions, which forms part of the InnovativeSolutions GroupTM, has offered to help find new work opportunities for the many truck driverswho stand to lose their jobs following the launch of Transnet’s new Durban to Johannesburgfuel pipeline.
The pipeline, which pumps fuel inland from the coast to a fuel accumulation facility near Heidelberg, will see at least 1,000 trucks pulled off the roads. While this is good news for thecountry’s carbon footprint, it will impact negatively on the livelihoods of many truck drivers.
Innovative Staffing Solutions MD, Arnoux Maré, says his company would welcome the opportunity to alleviate the situation by absorbing selected code 14, long-haul drivers, withmore than five years’ experience, onto its books. “We will assist in employing at least 100 drivers, who we will outsource to our vast network of clients.”
With its workforce of over 7,500 full time employees, Innovative Staffing Solutions is perfectlyplaced to provide support to these drivers. “In scenarios such as these, the benefits ofworkforce outsourcing cannot be underestimated. In this case, Innovative Staffing Solutions would employ the truck drivers, without depriving them of any rights, but rather by improving their working conditions.
“Good working conditions and employee rights are at the core of our endeavours. This isevidenced by the fact that we have never had a single incident of labour unrest in our groupsince our inception six years ago,” he says.
Innovative Staffing Solutions intends to communicate with Transnet management with a view to ascertaining how to facilitate the process and ensure the affected staff members are taken care of and new contracts of employment put in place. “By accepting these drivers into our fold, we’re not only boosting skills supply and demand, but we are also contributingto poverty alleviation and economic growth. A win-win situation for everyone,” concludes Maré.