Peet’s Coffee moves warehouse from Oakland to Tracy after fatal roof collapse

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — Tragedy struck the Oakland Peet’s Coffee warehouse off 85th Avenue in March when the roof collapsed in a storm, killing a longtime warehouse worker. On Friday, these warehouse workers received more bad news.

Peet’s announced that it would not be able to return the warehouse to its previous capacity and decided, instead, to move its distribution center and warehouse operations more than 80 km to Tracy.

“I just feel like they don’t care about us, that’s all,” forklift driver Samuel Howard said.

A spokesperson for Peet’s released a statement saying, in part, “Although 110 employees at the facility will be affected, all employees will have the option to continue working for Peet’s out of the new Tracy distribution center.”

Howard added: “Like everyone else, I’m confused. It’s a confusing process. I don’t think they should be doing it, but it’s out of my hands.”

He is one of more than 100 workers who now have the option of taking severance pay or committing to a great ride.

VIDEO: Longtime Peet employee killed in Oakland roof collapse identified

“I personally don’t want them moving to Tracy,” he said. “I wanted to stay local but I’m still undecided. Because I have a family to support like everyone else.”

Another employee who wished to remain anonymous said 95% of his warehouse workers live in Oakland.

“A lot of people, they don’t have a car,” he said. “So a lot of them literally walk to work, take the bus, BART, bike, I mean a lot. I’d say almost half. And so this whole move to Tracy is something they don’t can’t do.”

Until last Friday, he said workers were under the impression the new warehouse would be in Hayward.

But Peet’s says they viewed its location in Tracy as an important transportation hub and would give them access to several facilities that would allow them to grow and meet future business needs.

“They need to think about workers more,” Howard said. “They don’t need to worry about operations right now because the workers are the ones living the most right now.”

Meanwhile, Peet’s will hold the first of its four hiring events in Tracy this Thursday, May 25.

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