Crime is no way to make a point, but many in the logistics field can understand the frustration. The Ontario warehouse arsonist was allegedly angry about pay. But that’s not the way to demand a raise.

While the fire on Tuesday, April 7, spread quickly, complaints about warehouse worker wages in the Inland Empire’s massive logistics sector have been smoldering for years. 

Compared to other parts of the country, warehouse wages are actually higher in the Inland Empire, said Lisa Anderson, a Claremont-based logistics industry consultant.

Besides paying workers, logistics companies also have to deal with California’s sky-high electricity costs and increasingly burdensome regulations, she said.

“They’re really making less money running warehouses in California, let alone the Inland Empire,” Anderson said.

“In essence, you have to compete with the rest of the country … There’s just been a lot of focus on additional regulations in California in the last several years and regulations add a lot of cost.”

Cutting regulatory costs and not adding new rules could lead to higher warehouse wages, said Anderson.

“Warehousing has been the largest (source of) job growth in the Inland Empire in the last several years and it would be a big hit to the area if we were to lose it,” she said.

Read more at the full article at the Daily Bulletin.

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