Thrifty PayLess to Cut 300 More Southland Jobs : Relocation: Drugstore chain says opening of new outlets will counter some of the layoffs.

Ten months after a merger that led to the transfer of hundreds of jobs out of Los Angeles, Thrifty PayLess Inc. plans to eliminate more than 300 additional jobs at an Ontario warehouse.

The company confirmed Wednesday that it plans to eliminate up to 338 of the 375 jobs at the Ontario facility over the next seven months. The facility, which once stored and shipped merchandise to Thrifty stores statewide, is being converted to a center for handling seasonal merchandise and bulk items, said Adrienne Gaines, a spokeswoman for the company.

But Gaines said the job losses have been countered by the opening of eight Thrifty PayLess stores since the merger. Those stores have created 240 jobs, she said.

The drugstore chain has been consolidating operations since Thrifty Drug acquired PayLess in April, 1994. The layoffs at the Ontario distribution center are the latest in a series of shifts that began when the merged company decided to establish its headquarters at the Wilsonville, Ore., home of PayLess--a move that has already cost 317 jobs.

After the conversion, the primary merchandise needs of Thrifty PayLess will be met by two other distribution centers--one in Woodland, Ore., and another in Ogden, Utah.

“These two facilities can meet the company’s needs,” Gaines said. “When you integrate, you can’t continue duplication in operations.”

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However, the union that represents the Ontario workers said Thrifty PayLess is shifting more work to the Ogden facility--a non-union operation--to cut costs. All but 40 of the warehouse jobs being eliminated are union positions.

“We’re very angry,” said Luisa Gratz, president of Local 26 of the International Longshoremen and Warehousemen’s Union. “This means the state will have more workers who can’t pay a house note, buy groceries or buy shoes for their kids.

Among those affected by the work force reduction are employees who fill out merchandise orders, receiving clerks, lifting equipment operators, loaders and packers.

Thrifty PayLess is also gradually reducing its presence at the former Thrifty Drug headquarters. The company had 523 employees there before the merger and now has 158. Forty-eight headquarters employees have transferred to other sites. Thrifty PayLess plans to shut down its former Los Angeles headquarters by the summer of 1996.