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Sweeteners to Poles
Page 21
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A I3LACK COUNTRY haulier is hoping to lure Polish drivers to the UK by offering two weeks' free accommodation and training on arrival.
Gary Hawkins, MD of AE Hawkins Haulage, is this week (12-18 June) visiting the southern Polish city of Krakow in a bid to recruit up to 10 drivers.
He says the free induction period includes training in basic English, map reading, customer service and how to drive on UK roads. -If they don't match our standards then we won't employ them," he stresses.
Recruits will either work for Hawkins, which has around 20 drivers, or for a driver agency based at a "transport village" next to Hawkins in Kingswinford, near Dudley.
"If a small company wants to employ them directly they can pay us a finders' fee," says Hawkins.
The village was launched last year and offers everything from overnight parking and truck wash ing to training facilities and agency drivers (CM 23 September).
Hawkins is offering to pay West Midlands joint industrial council rates of £8.30/hour, which he says is more than double the rate offered in Poland.
His visit is being assisted by JobCentre Plus, the government's advice service for jobseekers, and its counterpart in Poland. He has also used "eures", a website offering information about jobs throughout the European Union.
Outlay for the trip has been minimal, according to Hawkins. The gamble is whether it's a waste of time, not pounds and pence."
Research commissioned byrecruitment specialist Manpower shows that only 3% of UK transport companies recruit drivers from the 10 new members of the EU, less than half the average recorded by UK employers