Over 600 Workers Walk Out at Smart &
Final Distribution Centers in Riverside and Commerce
LOS
ANGELES, June 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Over
600 warehouse workers represented by Teamsters Local 630 at
two Chedraui-owned Smart & Final grocery store warehouses
in Southern California went on an
unfair labor strike today, protesting mass layoffs and other unfair
labor practices.
Without these long-time, hard-working employees, Smart &
Final could experience massive supply chain disruptions during one
of the busiest shopping times of the year. Yet Smart & Final
refuses to comply with the law and continues to move forward with
its unlawful plan to terminate all these employees and transfer
their work to a new facility.
"The clock is ticking for Chedraui/Smart & Final to make
things right," said Lou Villalvazo,
Teamsters Local 630 Secretary-Treasurer. "The company is continuing
to commit unfair labor practices without any regard for its
workers. With the busy summer months approaching, the company faces
not just a moral but a logistical crisis. They need to act now to
guarantee our members their jobs, decent wages, respect and a fair
contract. We will not stand by and watch these workers be
exploited."
"No one wants to strike," said Juan
Fernandez, 24-year veteran at Smart & Final. "It's the
last thing we thought we'd have to do. But when our jobs, our
families' futures, and our dignity are on the line, we have no
choice. This is the only option Chedraui/Smart & Final has left
us to safeguard our livelihoods from a company that seems to have
forgotten who keeps it running."
Teamsters are fighting plans by Chedraui USA, the U.S. subsidiary of the Mexican
grocery giant Grupo Comercial Chedraui, to close two unionized
Smart & Final warehouses in Commerce and Riverside, Calif., and terminate the dedicated
workers who have kept the Smart & Final brand profitable the
past decades. These workers are now forced to reapply for
employment at $10 to $12 less per hour at a new warehouse in
Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
The Teamsters are currently pursuing a wide range of unfair
labor practice charges before the National Labor Relations Board.
Chedraui USA/Smart & Final is
also accused of bad faith bargaining and maintaining an illegal
proposal that violates California Assembly Bill (AB) 647, which
went into effect in January 2024 and
guarantees grocery distribution center workers retention rights
when the facilities at which they work undergo a change in
control.
"We are not just numbers on a payroll; we are the backbone of
Smart & Final," said Daniel
Delgado, 20-year veteran at Smart & Final. "It's time
the company sees us as essential and not expendable. We demand the
dignity that comes with knowing you have a job the next day and the
respect of a good union contract. We will accept nothing less."
The two warehouses on strike serve as distribution centers for
over 250 Smart & Final grocery stores in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Northern Mexico.
Last year, over 600 dedicated employees at Smart & Final's
warehouses in Commerce and
Riverside, California,
successfully voted to join Teamsters Local 630 despite facing a
harsh anti-union campaign from their management in both elections,
which notably included the company making its closure announcement
just a little over a week before the Riverside election in an attempt to scare
employees away from unionizing with the Teamsters.
This is the second unfair labor practice strike held by these
workers.
The strike coincides with a growing trend of unrest in the
grocery industry, where large grocery chains continue to report
record profits, often at the expense of their workers and the
public, as the cost of food escalates.
For more than 80 years, Teamsters Local 630 has represented
California workers in warehousing,
food services, liquor, food processing, dairy, and more industries.
Find out more at teamsters630.org.
Contact:
Christian
Castro, (310) 857-9817
ccastro@teamstersjc42.org
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SOURCE Teamsters Local 630