Third-party logistics firm NFI is said to be vacating a major warehouse serving shippers in the busy Los Angeles Harbor, according to a statement from the Teamsters local.
The warehouse was leased to Cal Cartage, the Southern California drayage carrier NFI bought in 2017. Cal Cartage has occupied the 600,000-square foot space since the 1970s.
But Cal Cartage and Teamsters Local 848 have been in a pitched battle over representing the warehouse's approximately 500 workers. The warehouse was one of the site's targeted in a week-long labor action last October.
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The Teamsters say the 1940's built-warehouse has been the target of numerous investigations by federal and state regulators, citing issues such as a lack of steel-toed boots for employees, poor brakes on forklifts, and workplace hazards such as potholes.
The Teamsters have also accused Cal Cartage and its related companies of improperly classifying drayage drivers that serve the warehouse as independent contractors when they should be classified as employee drivers.
The attention brought by the Teamsters' efforts prompted the Los Angeles City Council last October to evict Cal Cartage from the site, which sits on land owned by the Port of Los Angeles.
In a statement last month, the Port said it had been working with Cal Cartage to resolve the issue of its tenancy..
"If the company is unwilling to follow the law and play by the rules, and in so doing so puts the Port's proprietary interests at risk, then they are wise to vacate the property to make room for a company that will follow the law," said Teamsters Port Division Director Fred Potter.
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