Contributor: Elizabeth Brennan

Elizabeth Brennan

In a new report released today by USC’s Program for Environmental and Regional Equality, University of California professor and warehousing and logistics expert Juan D. de Lara reveals that the local warehousing industry is relying on low-paid, temporary workers at serious risk to the ongoing economic health of the region.

In Work: Path to the Middle Class or Road to Economic Insecurity?, De Lara takes a closer look at labor and census statistics to unpack actual warehouse worker wages. “It should be clear that most blue collar warehouse workers earn far less than the average logistics annual wage of $45,000. Any conversation about the future of the logistics industry as a key driver in the Inland Empire’s regional economy should begin with an honest assessment of blue-collar vs. white collar wages,” he writes.

Elizabeth Brennan

The state of California has ordered a Southern California warehouse that processes merchandise for Walmart and other retailers to pay 865 workers more than $1 million in stolen wages.

The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement issued the citations Monday, Jan. 28 against Quetico, LLC, a large warehouse complex in Chino, California. Back wages and unpaid overtime total more than $1.1million and in addition the state issued about $200,000 in penalties.

Elizabeth Brennan

The state of California has cited two companies at a Walmart-dedicated warehouse in the Inland Empire for a number of safety violations after employees lodged complaints in July with Cal/OSHA.

The citations, which total about $60,000 and include several serious violations, are against the warehouse operator, NFI, and the temporary staffing agency, Warestaff, that supplied most of the warehouse workers at the facility. (Download the NFI Citations and Warestaff Citations.)

Elizabeth Brennan

In an open letter to Walmart’s Board of Directors and other top leadership, warehouse workers raised serious concerns about a new plan to monitor domestic warehousing facilities. Read the open letter to Walmart leadership.

Walmart announced plans for a new program modeled after its flawed global monitoring program without any detail in The Wall Street Journal Dec. 28. A Walmart spokesman said only that they take the issue “seriously.”