Carwash Workers’ Message Hits Sunset Boulevard
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Chloe Osmer of the Clean Carwash Campaign in Los Angeles reports on a new way the workers are delivering their message across the area.
Last week, the message that carwash workers are organizing for justice reached new heights—above L.A.’s famous Sunset Boulevard. The billboard, which reads “Wash Away Injustice: Boycott Vermont Hand Wash,” stands out starkly among the sea of corporate advertising signs that line the popular strip.
Vermont Hand Wash, owned by brothers Benny and Nisan Pirian, has been at the center of an organizing campaign and currently faces charges by the Los Angeles city attorney of criminal misconduct.
Two months ago, carwash workers and their supporters were shut down when they tried to send a public message about their struggle by renting a billboard near Vermont Hand Wash calling on consumers to boycott the carwash.
The boycott message was considered too radical by corporate advertising executives, so the CLEAN Carwash Campaign agreed to a billboard message that read, “Support Carwash Workers: Wash Away Injustice.”
L.A. Carwash Owners Face Criminal Charges for Mistreating Workers
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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.
