L.A. Drivers: Carwash Workers May Live on Tips

by Tula Connell, Dec 22, 2009

Drivers in Los Angeles are getting the message: Carwash workers often are being exploited by their employers.

As KCET-TV reported in recent days:

“The next time you visit a carwash, think twice about how much you tip the person who wipes down your vehicle. That may be the only pay he receives. Correspondent Angie Crouch investigates widespread labor violations at Southern California car washes.”

The investigation of the workers’ plight comes more than a year after carwash workers in the area joined together to win basics rights at their workplaces—like actually getting paid. The Community-Labor-Environmental Action Network (CLEAN) Carwash Campaign, a coalition of community, religious, environmental and immigrant rights organizations, formed in March 2008 to aid Los Angeles carwash workers in their efforts to form a union with the United Steelworkers (USW).

In August, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled againt Vermont Hand Wash, one of the area’s most notorious anti-worker carwashes, requriring its owners to pay more than $50,000 in back pay to workers who were illegally fired for union activity.  And in October, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) renewed until 2014 the state’s Carwash Worker Law—originally enacted through the efforts of CLEAN and the California Labor Federation.

If they didn’t see the KCET investigation, L.A. drivers likely will view the CLEAN campaign’s billboard high above the famous Sunset Strip. The billboard says: “Wash Away Injustice! Support Carwash Workers.”

Come to think of it, since it’s right across the street from the KCET studio, maybe KCET reporters saw it, too.

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