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Smart & Final Workers Strike Over Retaliation Claims And Planned Layoffs

By Nithya Bose in Business News, posted June 28, 2024

Hundreds of workers from two Smart & Final warehouses walked out last week after allegations of retaliatory actions by the retail chain's parent, Grupo Chedraui.

The strike involves about 600 City of Commerce and Riverside facilities employees.

The strike follows a year of escalating tensions between the workers and Grupo Chedraui, a Mexican conglomerate that owns Smart & Final.

In May of the previous year, a Smart & Final executive announced plans to close five Southern California distribution centers.

They stated employees would be terminated and have to reapply for their jobs at lower pay when a new 1.4-million-square-foot facility in Rancho Cucamonga opens.

This announcement came shortly after workers at the City of Commerce facility voted to unionize and just before a scheduled union election at the Riverside center.

It led to accusations of retaliatory motives.

Teamsters Local 630, representing the workers, has filed over 30 unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board.

The union accused the company of interfering with workers' rights to organize.

Chedraui has denied these allegations.

The company says the closures are part of an effort to consolidate outdated facilities across a wide area.

The company said: “The Teamsters’ claims are simply not true.

“Our new facility will employ nearly 1,000 people, creating hundreds more American jobs than exist today.

“This will substantially reduce our carbon footprint and enable us to continue providing affordable food to communities in California that need it the most.”

Chedraui also said the strike has not caused significant disruptions to its distribution operations.

“We are trying to send the company a message — a message that we are tired of being looked at as a faceless number”

Grupo Chedraui acquired Smart & Final in 2021 for $620 million.

It also operates El Super and Fiesta Mart, making it the fourth-largest grocery retailer in California.

Many Smart & Final warehouse workers have long tenures, some exceeding 20 or 30 years, earning around $32 per hour.

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However, the advertised pay for the new distribution center is $20 per hour at job fairs.

Daniel Delgado, a 19-year veteran at the Riverside distribution center, said: “We are trying to send the company a message — a message that we are tired of being looked at as a faceless number.”

Maurice Thomas, another worker, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the workers' resolve not to give up despite the company's attempts to delay bargaining and move operations.

The workers' plight has drawn the attention of state officials.

Assembly member Chris Holden warned Chedraui forcing workers to reapply for jobs might violate a new law to protect grocery employees during mergers or reorganizations.

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