Finally, Some Justice for California Car Wash Workers

by James Parks, Nov 20, 2008

Carwasheros, as the car wash workers in Southern California are known, scored a big victory yesterday when California Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet announced that 60 employees of the Hollywood Riviera Car Wash in Redondo Beach will receive $450,000 in unpaid wages. The payout comes in settlement of a lawsuit against the car wash filed by the state on the workers’ behalf. 

Meanwhile, the campaign for justice for carwasheros is working to address the violations exposed by the labor commissioner in other area car washes.   

A state investigation revealed that Hollywood Riviera had been paying the mostly immigrant workers minimum wage for as little as three to four hours of work but required them to finish out the day being paid in tips only.   

Says Dave Campbell, secretary treasurer of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 675 and spokesperson for the Car Wash Workers Organizing Committee (CWWOC), a USW affiliate: 

Car wash workers are among the most exploited workers in California, and Commissioner Bradstreet’s efforts are a significant step toward bringing them justice and dignity on the job.

The state filed the lawsuit under the Car Wash Worker law, passed in 2003, which requires all car wash operators to register with the state as a means to promote good labor practices. 

Since CWWOC’s launch in March, car wash workers have been organizing and speaking out publicly about abuses in the industry. During that month, a Los Angeles Times investigation found that hand car washes “often brazenly violate basic labor and immigration laws, with little risk of penalty.” The Times reported that many owners pay less than half of minimum wage and that two-thirds of those inspected by the state’s Labor Department since 2003 were out of compliance with one or more labor laws.

California leads the nation in the number of car wash operations and they are highly profitable, with a typical return on investment of more than 40 percent, according to a CWWOC report, Cleaning Up the Car Wash Industry: Empowering Workers and Protecting Communities. However, the report says the profits from this industry are largely derived from violations of workers’ legal rights, with rampant non-compliance with minimum wage, overtime, rest and meal period requirements. Car wash workers routinely work between 50 and 60 hours a week and average $12,500 a year, with no benefits.   

Danny Park, a member of the CLEAN (Community Labor Environmental Action Network) Car Wash Campaign, a coalition of community groups supporting the carwasheros, adds:

We are pleased that the Labor Commissioner is giving teeth to the Carwash Worker law, but Hollywood Riviera carwash is the tip of the iceberg. Wage and hour and other labor law violations are rampant in the industry and we won’t rest until the carwash industry is cleaned up.

In one prominent case, a class-action lawsuit was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court in May covering an estimated 250 current and former employees at four car washes owned by brothers Benny and Nisan Pirian: Vermont Hand Wash, Celebrity Car Wash, Hollywood Car Wash and Five Star Car Wash. The suit alleges that the Pirians failed to pay minimum wage, failed to provide overtime pay and denied meal and rest breaks during shifts, among other violations of state and federal law.

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