Two Bay Area firms to sack warehouse, DC workers

Two Bay Area firms to sack warehouse, DC workers Retailer Mervyns and grocery product distributor United Grocers filed notices this week with the Alameda County Workforce Investment Board stating their intention to cut more than 140 transportation and distribution jobs over the next several weeks.
   Hayward-based department store chain Mervyns said it would cut 82 non-union jobs, nearly 40 percent of the workforce, at the firm's Fremont warehouse and distribution center. About 125 workers will remain at the facility when the cuts are complete in early March.
   Mervyns' officials cited the slowdown in the national economy and improvements in warehouse efficiency as reasons for the job cuts.
   In addition, Mervyns said it would eliminate 20 percent of the workers at its distribution center in Ontario, Calif.
   United Grocers, which distributes products and service to independent supermarkets, intends to shutter its warehouse operation in Hayward, eliminating 61 International Brotherhood of Teamster union jobs in the process. Under union rules, all of the Hayward workers facing dismissal can either move to the firm's nearby Stockton warehouse facility or receive a severance package.
   United said about a dozen of the Hayward employees had opted to move    to the Stockton facility. Officials for the firm also cited a lack of efficiency at their facility as a primary reason for the cuts.