Carwash Workers at LA Carwash Covered By Living Wage Ordinance
by Labor Desk
October 09, 2008
Carwash with City Contract Has Failed to Pay Even the Minimum Wage.

Los Angeles - Carwash workers and their allies gathered on the steps of City Hall today to announce that their employer should have been paying them the mandated "living wage" since 2006 when the carwash received a contract to wash City vehicles. After a press conference and rally, workers submitted a formal claim to the City's Bureau of Contract Administration, the agency responsible for enforcing the Living Wage Ordinance.

This July, City Council President Eric Garcetti and Councilman Ed Reyes authored, and the City Council passed, a resolution in response to reports of rampant violations of employment and health and safety laws at Los Angeles area carwashes. The resolution mandated an investigation into City contracts with carwashes. As a result of an investigation, it was discovered that Auto Spa Express should have been paying its workers the living wage since August of 2006.

Councilman Garcetti stated, "We want to make sure that all employers are treating their workers fairly and providing clean, safe work environments. I am committed to standing with these carwash workers and the CLEAN coalition as they work to clean up these dirty practices and stop the exploitation of these employees."

Auto Spa Express, also known as Car Wash on Sunset, at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Alvarado Street in the Echo Park area has been the target of pickets by carwash workers and the Community-Labor-Environmental Action Network (CLEAN) because of its treatment of workers. The conditions include pay that is far below the minimum wage, dangerous working conditions, and management's harassment of workers who seek to organize a union. Although the carwash has been subject to the Living Wage Ordinance since August 2006, workers at Auto Spa Express report they have consistently been paid $50-60 per day - or $5-6 per hour - for a ten-hour shift. The Living Wage is currently $11.25 an hour.

Reverend Dave Farley, the leader of a congregation in the Echo Park neighborhood said, "As members of this community, we do not want our tax dollars used to support businesses that violate the law and exploit workers."

Eduardo Gonzalez, a former carwash worker at Auto Spa Express said, "Even though I worked between ten and twelve hours a day, they only paid me for six or seven hours of work. So for a twelve hour day I was paid $56. I support my parents and my two children with my wages. It is very difficult to pay the rent, transportation and food on only $56 dollars a day.

According to Madeline Janis of Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), "Carwash workers are some of the most vulnerable workers in our City. We are proud that the City Council has taken a positive step to identify violators of the Living Wage Ordinance. Carwash workers across our city are working in sweatshop conditions for less than the minimum wage and sometimes for tips only. We call on all carwash owners to obey the law and respect workers' rights."

Workers at Auto Spa Express have also described dangerous working conditions at the wash. On September 4, a worker filed a complaint with the California Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) alleging serious violations of health and safety laws at the carwash.

According to Dave Kins of the United Steelworkers, "workers have reported more than 30 serious violations of California 's occupational health and safety laws at this carwash. These include broken conveyor machinery which has caused multiple injuries to workers; lack of protective gear such as goggles, gloves, and face masks for workers using undiluted acids and other hazardous chemicals; and, for workers toiling under the hot sun, little or no protection from potentially deadly heat sickness."

Kins added, "Workers whom the employer even suspects of supporting the union have been harassed or have been told there is no work for them. We are seeing these same anti-union tactics in every carwash where workers have spoken out about their working conditions. The United Steelworkers will continue to support these workers' efforts to organize a union."