Storehouse closure hits home

Monday, January 11, 1999

Storehouse closure hits home

STOREHOUSE: Employees, campus staff concerned over office supply
switch

By Lawrence Ferchaw

Daily Bruin Staff

Days away from the closure of the UCLA Storehouse, the campus’s
primary provider of office and general supplies, a severely reduced
number of employees are dealing with more work and an uncertain
future.

On Feb. 1, Office Depot will take over as the campus’s primary
source of office supplies. In October, the chain store began
providing everything from copy paper to sticky notes to many campus
units as part of a gradual phasing out of the Storehouse.

UCLA’s business and finance division decided to make the change
in an effort to save money for campus departments, according to Sam
Morabito, the division’s associate vice chancellor.

"Office Depot affords the campus the best combination of service
and cost," Morabito said in a previous statement.

The switchover has created difficulties for the remaining
Storehouse employees – who must continue to provide service with a
smaller staff – and for campus departments as they adjust to the
new system.

"It’s become a lot slower now that everyone is on a skeleton
crew," said Tyler Tuione, an administrative specialist in the
department of psychology. Tuione is in charge of the department’s
storeroom and has dealt with the Storehouse for over three
years

"They did a great job, they were always fast," Tuione added.

In anticipation of problems with the new distribution system,
campus departments are placing larger orders from the Storehouse.
With far fewer employees, including just one driver, the remaining
workers have seen their workload increase dramatically.

"We’re being flooded with calls of people trying to get stuff
from us," said Calvin Green, an administrative analyst at the
Storehouse. "They’re panicking."

Green has worked at the Storehouse for 11 years and will be laid
off when the Storehouse closes in February. He has yet to find
another job, but said he is hopeful he will be able to stay with
the university.

Before the announced closure of the Storehouse, the staff’s low
headcount did not allow for employees to learn some of the
functions of their co-workers, according to Storehouse employee
Barbara Eckles. The departure of some employees left no one to
replace them.

"If one person leaves, it’s history," she said.

Because of their specialized knowledge, some of the laid-off
employees were brought back to the Storehouse temporarily, when
their absence caused problems such as bills going unpaid.

Many of the employees already laid off have found jobs within
the university. Others, including those still working at the
Storehouse until its closure, are still looking.

"We put a lot of applications in," said one employee who asked
not to be identified. "Unemployment (compensation) is not enough
… I’ve got three kids."

Some employees also complained that they were not given the help
promised when they were notified of the closure. At the meeting in
August, Morabito said that his department, along with the campus’
human resources department, would help laid-off employees find new
jobs.

One employee complained of unreturned phone calls and a general
lack of response to his requests for assistance. Another noted that
employees with more seniority were laid off in favor of those with
less seniority.

Morabito could not be reached for comment, but he has said
previously that he regretted making the layoffs, but hoped to help
the employees.

"The goal is to place everyone, but I can’t guarantee it,"
Morabito said. "Hopefully we’ll be able to place these folks, and
it will be a win-win situation for the campus and the staff."

The nine employees who have not been laid off will move to
another facility in Culver City. That facility will continue to
store the gas cylinders and alcohol used in campus labs, and serve
as a receiving area for some suppliers. The old building will be
sold to pay off accumulated debt from the Storehouse.

Since many Storehouse employees had worked there for at least a
decade, its closure will sever some long-standing ties.

"It’s like a family," said another Storehouse employee who
wished to remain anonymous. "We got to know each other real well.
We went out on the weekends … We went to events together."

Some employees who have already left have kept in touch and
visit the Storehouse regularly.

The fact that there hasn’t been a big farewell party has made
the process more difficult.

"It’s kind of depressing to just walk out of the door on Friday
and say ‘See you,’" Eckles said. "I don’t know what’s going to
happen."

With less than a month before the closure and the complete
switchover to Office Depot, one employee predicted problems with
the new ordering and distribution center.

"Everyone should just wait until Feb. 1. That’s going to be
interesting," Green said.CHARLES KUO/Daily Bruin

So far, 23 employees have been laid off as the UCLA Storehouse
is phased out in favor of new supplier, Office Depot.

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