SoCal Gas to Shut 4 Offices, Cut 158 Jobs

Southern California Gas Co. said Thursday that it will close four of its nine administrative headquarters by the end of 1993, eliminating 158 jobs as part of an ongoing cost-cutting program.

The announcement drew immediate criticism from officials of SoCal Gas’ largest labor union, which has blasted the company’s reorganization as detrimental to employees and consumers.

The company said regional offices in Visalia, Tujunga, Santa Barbara and San Dimas will be shut by the end of 1993. Of those, only the San Dimas office has a customer service operation, and that will remain open.

About 550 employees will be affected by the move, about 400 of whom will be asked to relocate.

“We intend for this to be transparent or invisible for our customers--that’s out goal,� said Rick Terrell, a SoCal Gas spokesman.

The company’s announcement, which was broadcast to employees by closed-circuit television throughout the day, follows a series of complaints against the company by unions and municipal officials, who charge that the earlier elimination of 12 branch offices has harmed customer service.

“They are hacking away at services to residential customers,� said Maureen Lynch, president of Utilities Workers of America Local 132, which represents about 5,000 gas company employees. Of the $10 million in savings SoCal Gas says it hopes to gain through the reductions, she said, “the consumer’s not going to reap one cent of rebate.�

Lynch also disputed the company’s estimates of job reductions. She said married clerical workers make up much of the staff of the regional headquarters and may be unable or unwilling to relocate to distant offices because of their spouses’ jobs.

“It’s going to put out on the street a minimum of 400 people,� Lynch said. “They’re history in a year and a half.�

SoCal Gas employs 9,400, down from 9,600 last August, when it unveiled plans to cut 600 jobs by the end of 1993.