Calif. Carwashes Agree to $1 Million Back Pay Settlement
Eight California carwashes agreed to a historic $1 million settlement with the state’s attorney general for routinely failing to pay minimum wage or overtime, creating false records of work hours and not paying money owed to employees who quit, according to Attorney General Kamala Harris.
Workers at these car washes were taken advantage of by unscrupulous employers who illegally denied them the pay and benefits they earned. I am pleased that the resolution of this case will allow workers to receive the pay they are owed.
At least $800,000 of the settlement will go to workers who were underpaid, according to court records. Other parts of the settlement will pay taxes and penalties. Click here for a copy of the settlement agreement.
Two of the washes in the agreement are Bonus Car Wash in Santa Monica and Marina Car Wash in Venice, where workers fought and won recognition with United Steelworkers (USW) Local 675 last year. Says Local 75′s Dave Campbell:
We are glad that the Attorney General is taking seriously the issue of wage theft among car wash workers. Workers have been waiting to be made whole for past violations for years.
California Labor Commissioner Files Suit to Close 9 Carwash Operations
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.
Labor Board Charges California Carwash Owner
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The owner and a manager of a Los Angeles carwash where workers were harassed, intimidated and fired by management more than year ago when they tried to form a union now face charges from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
In a complaint issued May 28, the NLRB charges that when workers at Vermont Hand Wash began organizing with the Carwash Workers Organizing Committee (CWOC), they were met with threats, unlawful interrogations and surveillance. CWOC joined with the United Steelworkers (USW) last March as part of the CLEAN Carwash Campaign.
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 the “carwasheros,” as the workers are known.
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.
