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California Labor Commissioner Files Suit to Close 9 Carwash Operations |
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The fight for justice, fair wages and safe working conditions for Southern California’s carwash workers—carwasheros—received a boost June 2 when the California Labor Commissioner filed a lawsuit to close nine carwashes operating illegally. The same day, the state Assembly passed a bill to continue the state law regulating carwashes the nine are charged with violating.
The CLEAN Carwash Campaign says two of the carwashes targeted in the lawsuit are
examples of the abusive practices in the industry that prompted passage of the Carwash Worker Law.
(Click here to read about new National Labor Relations Board charges brought against another Los Angeles carwash.)
CLEAN Carwash is leading a major citywide effort by unions, community and religious leaders and others seeking to eliminate abuses and uphold standards in the carwash industry. Click here to learn more about the campaign and how you can help.
Henry Huerta, director of the CLEAN Carwash Campaign, says the two carwashes, Auto Spa Express and Melrose Car Wash, have been cited for numerous violations, including failure to register with the state as the Carwash Worker law requires, failure to pay minimum wage and overtime, child labor violations and hazardous workplace conditions.
At Auto Spa Express, says Huerta, the carwash management also fired workers who supported efforts to organize a union with Carwash Workers Organizing Committee/United Steelworkers (CWOC/USW) and “blew the whistle” on health and safety hazards and wage violations at their workplace.
The CLEAN [Carwash] Campaign has been working over the past year to put a stop to the exploitative business practices of Auto Spa Express and Melrose Car Wash. We brought these practices to the Labor Commissioner’s attention and we are gratified that her office has taken these decisive measures to enforce the law in an industry that too often operates in its defiance….Workers at these carwashes have reported being cheated out of minimum wage and overtime for years, and they want to see justice done.
Meanwhile in Sacramento, the Carwash Worker law, set to expire at the end of the year, now goes to the state Senate’s Industrial Relations Committee, after the Assembly approved its reauthorization.
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/USW report, “Cleaning Up the Carwash Industry: Empowering Workers and Protecting Communities.” But as the report documents, profits from this industry are largely derived from violations of workers’ legal rights, including rampant non-compliance with minimum wage, overtime, rest and meal period requirements. Carwash workers routinely work between 50 hours and 60 hours a week and average $12,500 a year, with no benefits.
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Any business using illegals should be shut down cold. It shouldn’t depend on whether or not the workers are being abused. When a business employs illegals it’s abusing the entire country. Illegals cost the American taxpayers billions of dollars a year in education, healthcare and housing costs. Think CA would be in the miserable circumstance they currently find themselves if they weren’t overrun with illegals? Personally, I doubt it. I am exceptionally fortunate to live in a state with an extremely low instance of illegals. (And when on is found in our state ICE is immediately notified.) Our unemployment rate is below the national average. And our state budget? Enjoying a surplus. Think the presence of illegals in your state and in this country doesn’t have a negative impact? Think again.