Imperial Cargo is laying off 330 code 14 truck drivers amongst a total of 591 employees in a massive restructuring process having lost one of their biggest clients.
After negotiations which started in January, Imperial Cargo – a division of Imperial Logistics South Africa Group (Pty) Ltd, decided to lay off the employees in terms of section 189 of the Labour Relations Act No.66 of 1995.
“The company is offering voluntary retrenchment to all those employees within the affected job categories. Applications for voluntary retrenchment will close on Wednesday 18 March 2020 at 17h00, no applications will be considered after the closing date. Please be advised that the employer has the sole right to decline or accept voluntary retrenchment applications.” read a memorandum by HR Esther Hopley addressed to the employees.
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330 truck drivers, 155 general workers and 106 other employees have been affected.
All the affected employees were working directly with the client in question.
The affected employees were offered a chance of being rehired if opportunities arise.
The retrenchments come at a horrible time when the economy has been hard hit by the effects of the covid-19 pandemic.
Many trucking companies have either closed or downscaled their operations as production has stopped as the country is in a lockdown.
