L.A. Carwash Owners Face Criminal Charges for Mistreating Workers

by James Parks, Feb 10, 2009

The fight for justice for Southern California’s carwash workers took a giant step today when  Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, the city’s top prosecutor, filed criminal charges against two local carwash owners, four of their facilities and the manager of one of the city’s biggest carwash operations.

The complaint charges Benny and Nisan Pirian, the carwash owners, and Manuel Reyes, manager of the Pirian-owned Vermont Hand Wash, with 176 counts of criminal misconduct altogether—including conspiracy, witness intimidation, grand theft, brandishing a deadly weapon, failure to pay wages, and failure to comply with wage orders of the state’s Industrial Welfare Commission regulating workplace conditions.

Henry Huerta, director of the Community-Labor-Environmental Action Network (CLEAN) Carwash Campaign, praised Delgadillo’s action. 

The CLEAN Carwash Campaign brought these violations to the City Attorney’s attention, and we are gratified that his diligent investigation has resulted in these charges. Vigorous law enforcement like this case is essential if we are going to rid our community of dirty carwashes that break the law and abuse workers.

CLEAN is leading a huge citywide effort by unions, community and religious leaders and others to eliminate abuses and uphold standards in the carwash industry. Click here to learn more about the CLEAN campaign and how you can help the carwasheros, as the workers are known.

If convicted, the Pirian brothers each could receive a maximum of 86 years in jail and $136,000 in fines. The brothers also face more than $800,000 in fines against themselves and four of their carwashes—Celebrity Car Wash, Five Star Car Wash, Hollywood Car Wash and Vermont Hand Wash. The city prosecutor took action after receiving evidence from 37 current and former employees from the four carwashes.

Says Delgadillo:

Today, we are sending a message that, in the City of Los Angeles, we will hold to account, and prosecute, those who cheat or abuse their employees.  I want to make this crystal clear: Los Angeles protects its working families.

After workers began publicly organizing with the Carwash Workers Organizing Committee (CWOC) of the United Steelworkers last March, the owners of Vermont Hand Wash fired three workers who support the union and advocated publicly for better working conditions, according to the workers.

That same month, a Los Angeles Times investigation found that carwash operations “often brazenly violate basic labor and immigration laws, with little risk of penalty.” The Times reported that many owners pay less than half of the minimum wage and that two-thirds of the sites 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 carwash operations, which are highly profitable with a typical return on investment of more than 40 percent, according to a CWOC report, Cleaning Up the Carwash Industry: Empowering Workers and Protecting Communities. However, the report says profits from this industry are largely derived from violations of workers’ legal rights, including rampant noncompliance with minimum wage, overtime, rest and meal period requirements. Carwash workers routinely work 50 to 60 hours a week and average $12,500 a year, with no benefits.

Last May, the union and CLEAN announced an official boycott of carwashes owned or operated by the Pirian family in Los Angeles—the same four facilities named in the criminal complaint—and two outside the city in Huntington Park.

The workers have gained strong support throughout Southern California. Says Rabbi Alison Abrams of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice:

The faith community has borne witness to the intimidation, harassment and firings of these workers. We ask consumers to help us clean up the carwash industry by respecting the boycott of all Pirian family-owned carwashes until they agree to obey the law and respect workers’ right to organize.

Huerta says the actions of carwash owners like the Pirians not only jeopardize their employees’ well-being, but also put law-abiding carwash owners at a competitive disadvantage. He invited any carwash employer who “wants to do the right thing” to sign a CLEAN Carwash Agreement. 

By doing so, they simply pledge to abide by minimum employment, health and safety, and environmental standards, and to respect workers’ right to organize a union free from intimidation, harassment or other interference.

Delgadillo’s criminal complaint is the latest action taken by government agencies against carwashes operated by the Pirian family. Other actions include:

• Pirian family-owned carwashes have been cited by Cal/OSHA for putting workers in danger due to unsafe working conditions.
• The National Labor Relations Board recently filed a complaint against Vermont Hand Wash for retaliating against workers who spoke out publicly about working conditions by firing one union supporter and cutting the hours of others.
• A Pirian family-owned carwash was cited by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works for repeatedly allowing carwash wastewater to flow into storm drains.

Glen Arnodo of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor says he hopes the criminal complaints send a message to carwashes across the city that they can no longer violate the law with impunity. 

This community, including thousands of workers across Los Angeles, will stand together with carwash workers until they win this fight for justice and dignity.

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