City Council bill, which would make car washes get a license, comes after accusations of labor law violations
City lawmakers say they hope to clean up New York’s car wash industry — by making operators follow the same licensing rules as tow truck companies, garages and more than 50 other businesses.
“I was actually surprised when I learned that car washes don’t need any license from the city in order to operate,” said City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan).
“It’s just creating these steps to get this industry in line. It’s been demonstrated consistently that car wash operators have been in violation of labor laws.”
On Wednesday, Mark-Viverito plans to introduce the Car Wash Accountability Act, which would require all city washes to get a yearly license from the city Consumer Affairs Department.
The penalty for operating without a license would be $200 a day, maxing out at $15,000.
In order to be licensed, car wash operators would have to share details of ownership, show they comply with city, state and federal laws and get a bond to cover any unpaid fines or damages.
“This is an industry that seems to have a remarkable capacity to violate the law,” said Deborah Axt of Make the Road New York.
She said a licensing bill would be a good first step.
“It seems like a no-brainer to us,” Axt said.
Immigrant workers have been speaking out about low pay and harsh conditions at local car washes as part of a campaign by Axt’s group and New York Communities for Change.
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union is also trying to organize the workers.
Hilary Klein, lead organizer of Make the Road New York, and Luna Ranjit, executive director of Adhikaar, a Queens-based Nepalese support group, talk about their efforts to organize service workers, like manicurists and car wash attendants, for minimum wage and better working conditions.
Linda Perry of the WBAI Evening News reports on the harsh conditions of car wash workers in New York City and how the Taxi Workers Alliance and the Machinists Union are calling upon their drivers to boycott carwashes where workers are being abused.
Click here to watch the video.
Car washers, taxi workers, livery cab drivers and union leaders showed up on Manhattan’s West Side Wednesday to put pressure on car wash owners they say are abusing workers.
The campaign is by Workers Aligned for a Sustainable and Healthy New York (WASH NY) and supporters pledged to help meet the car washers’ needs.
The washers say the unfair working conditions include getting paid below-minimum wage, no accurate accounting for tips, and a lack of protective gear against dangerous chemicals.
The attorney for one of the accused car wash owners is refuting the claims.
City’s largest car-wash chain, the main target of a union campaign that claims workers are cheated, now faces the threat of a boycott by some of its best customers: taxi and limo drivers.
Pressure is mounting on one of the city’s biggest car-wash operators as organizers of a union drive in the niche industry receive pledges from taxi and black-car drivers to support any boycott called in connection with the campaign.
Pelham, N.Y.-based Lage Management Corp. is the top target of the effort, which is led by the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union, Make the Road New York and New York Communities for Change. A potential boycott would likely focus on the more than 20 car washes Lage operates in the city. With possibly thousands of taxi and black-car drivers on board, a boycott could cost the company some of its most important repeat patrons.
The promise of support from the drivers at a press conference on Wednesday comes after several political figures have already inserted themselves into the labor campaign. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating potential wage and hour violations at Lage car washes. And Public Advocate Bill de Blasio wrote a letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg urging the city to stop getting its cars cleaned at Lage washes, citing more than $170,000 spent at the venues since 2010.
Some Lage workers allege that management routinely skirts minimum wage and overtime laws, even though the company agreed in a 2009 consent judgment with the federal government to not violate the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum-wage, overtime and recordkeeping requirements. As part of the settlement, Lage agreed to fork over $3.4 million that it underpaid workers.
Jennifer Lage, a company manager and the daughter of owner John Lage, said her firm was “one of the best” in the area for workers. “Any concerns being raised about us are being driven by an outside group to manipulate our employees and to promote their own union,” she said. “Claims we don’t pay minimum wage, overtime or tips employees are entitled to are simply not true.”
Ms. Lage added that her company has created hundreds of jobs for immigrants and other New Yorkers. She would not address the attorney general’s investigation but said a recent state Department of Labor audit did not find any “significant violations.” A DOL spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
The threats to boycott car washes in connection with the campaign were issued Wednesday by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, a 15,000-member union that represents yellow-car drivers, and District 15 International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which is organizing black-car drivers.
“Low wages, long hours, difficult labor, unsafe conditions— if you line these up on a sheet of paper they could apply to taxi drivers as easily as they apply to car-wash workers,” said Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the 15,000-member New York Taxi Workers Alliance. “We can really viscerally relate to the conditions they’re facing.”
Jim Conigliaro Sr., directing business representative of District 15, vowed that black-car drivers “would stand with” the car-wash workers in the event of a boycott. “If we put a call out not to patronize a car wash because they’re abusing their workers, believe me, these guys understand what that’s about,” he said.
Organizers of the campaign would not say when they might call for a boycott, but they clearly hope the threat of losing some of their best customers convinces Lage and other car-wash operators to come to the table and negotiate.
“Combine all money going to Lage from city government with all the taxi drivers, and it starts to send a clear message that this isn’t your standard campaign,” said Jon Kest, executive director of New York Communities for Change. “This is a big deal.”
*Taxi Workers Alliance, Machinists Union call upon drivers to boycott carwashes where workers are being abused*
At a press conference this afternoon at the Westside Highway Car Wash, New York City taxi workers and black car drivers announced that they are helping the WASH New York campaign to pressure car wash owners to improve conditions in an industry plagued by rampant wage and hour violations, and unsafe working conditions. The drivers were joined by car wash workers, as well as community activists and union leaders.
“We are proud to offer our help and support to WASH NY and to stand with the car wash workers in their struggle for just and fair working conditions. Taxi workers know firsthand the great value of car wash workers’ labor and understand all too well their struggle for justice and rights. We call upon all taxi drivers to boycott carwashes where workers are being abused and instead to rely on those where workers’ rights are respected,” said Bhairavi Desai, Executive Director of the 15,000-member New York Taxi Workers Alliance.
“Just like the black car drivers, workers in the carwash industry are recent immigrants. And their employers think they can take advantage of them. We pledge today to inform the drivers we represent that they should avoid using carwashes identified by WASH NY as places where workers are abused. And we will also encourage drivers to use carwashes where employers have agreed to do the right thing,” said Jim Conigliaro, Directing Business Representative of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) District 15, which represents black car drivers throughout the city.
“We are proud to be here with representatives of the Taxi Workers Alliance and the Machinists Union who represent New York’s black car drivers. They have made the choice to stand up, speak out and act on behalf of the carwash workers. What a powerful statement their support means. Tens of thousands of drivers in this city will be hearing from their representatives about this campaign – about the terrible conditions workers face,” said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU, UFCW).
“We decided to join this campaign because we want to be paid a decent salary, we want protection from the chemicals we use on the job, and we want to be treated with dignity,” said Asai Nicolas Flores who works at the LMC car wash in Astoria.
“We want to thank the taxi drivers and the black car drivers for their support. We are already united as car wash workers and with their support, now our campaign is even stronger,” said Julian Cruz, who works at the LMC in East Harlem.
*Taxi Workers Alliance, Machinists Union call upon drivers to boycott carwashes where workers are being abused *
April 11, NOON, Westside Highway Car Wash, 638 West 47th Street, New York, NY
WHAT: New York City taxi workers and black car drivers are helping the WASH NY campaign being conducted by Make the Road New York and New York Communities for Change to pressure car wash owners to improve conditions in an industry plagued by rampant wage and hour violations, and unsafe working conditions. The drivers will be joined by car wash workers, as well as community activists and union leaders. Workers will be available for interviews and English translation will be provided.
WHO:
Bhairavi Desai, Executive Director, New York City Taxi Workers Alliance;
Jim Conigliaro, Directing Business Representative, International Association of Machinists (IAM) District 15;
Stuart Appelbaum, President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU, UFCW);
Car wash workers, community activists, and representatives of WASH New York.
WHERE: Westside Highway Car Wash, 638 West 47th Street, New York, NY
WHEN: Wednesday, April 11, NOON.
City paid Lage Management Corp. $170G for cleanings despite investigation alleging it cheated workers out of wages
City agencies are spending big money prettying up official vehicles at a car wash empire that is currently being investigated for alleged dirty labor practices, the Daily News has learned.
The city has paid Lage Management Corp. more than $170,000 for car cleanings since 2010, including $12,207 in the last three months, says Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who wants the business relationship to stop.
“It’s better to have a dirty car than a dirty conscience,” argued de Blasio, who has written to Mayor Bloomberg to demand an immediate end to city use of dozens of Lage car washes in the five boroughs.
Advocates for workers’ rights said they have some dirt on a Jamaica car wash and that management should come clean.
Community activists gathered last week outside the Sutphin Car Wash, at 97-31 Sutphin Blvd., where they said operator Fernando Magalhaes has been retaliating against workers who have been fighting for fair pay and safer working conditions.
Hillary Klein, a lead organizer with the advocacy group Make the Road New York, said there are about 17 employees at the car wash who are taken advantage of because they are not fully aware of their rights.
“In general, they’re undocumented, marginalized and easily manipulated when they try to stand up for their rights,” she said.
Neither the car wash’s owner nor the manager was available for comment.
Coalition fighting for rights of exploited immigrant workers
It is a never ending New York story: Rich business owners shamelessly stealing wages and tips from workers who can barely scrape out a living.
Owners, of course, are counting on the silence of workers — many of them immigrants — fearful of losing their jobs.
But car wash workers, fed up with being exploited, have courageously broken the silence.
“We have to assert our rights as workers,” said Nelson Hernández, 21, who hails from Mexico.
Hernández is part of WASH New York, a group that is spearheading a campaign to bring fair conditions to the car wash industry, where labor violations are routine.
The group is a coalition of workers, community leaders, elected officials and union members organized by Make the Road New York and New York Communities for Change, with the help of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).
A survey conducted by coalition found more than 75% of the car wash workers reported getting no overtime pay, even if they worked more than 100 hours a week. None had paid sick days, and only one was offered an employer-sponsored health plan.
WASH New York has plenty to do as the case of Hernández, which is similar to hundreds of other car wash workers, makes clear.
After three years working at LMC car wash in Astoria, Hernández, makes $5.50 an hour, $1.75 less than the legal minimum wage. Supposedly, workers reach the legal salary with tips, but as Hernández said, it doesn’t work that way.
“You never know how much you are going to get in any given day,” he said. “It could be $5 or it could be $20. Yet we had to sign a paper agreeing to that arrangement.”
Asked about overtime, Hernández, who said he puts in an average of 60 hours per week, reacted as if it was a foolish question.
“Overtime? Forget it,” he said. “The bosses tell us ‘that’s not for you’ because we are immigrants and many of us have no papers.”
“You know what his means? It means that the owner has found a group of people he can exploit and nobody can do anything about it,” said RWDSU’s president Stuart Appelbaum. “That’s why unions are important.”
Last Thursday, a group of workers confronted managers at the Sutphin Car Wash in Jamaica, Queens.
Sutphin is part of a chain of car washes operated by Fernando Magalhaes, who was subpoenaed earlier this month by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for wage and hour violations, and unsafe working conditions.
Some of the workers at Suthpin and other car washes around the city have been subjected to retaliation — reduced hours and verbal threats — in the past week, said Hilary Klein, of Make the Road New York.
“This is a workforce that has been overlooked, others like security guards and janitors are more public,” said Jon Kest, director of New York Communities for Change (NYCC). “They work outside the mainstream, people don’t understand what goes on in the industry. They can be abused.”
But workers are not taking it any more.
“There are about 800 workers from more than 20 car washes involved with the campaign,” Hernández said. “We make decisions together. And we think joining the union is important.”
Their demands are fair.
“We are asking for higher wages, and for management to stop robbing us of our tips,” said Hernández who clarified that tip robbery doesn’t go on at his workplace.
“We want a reasonable work schedule and the proper protective gear — masks, gloves, etc.,” he added.
Without a doubt these workers are making a strong — and risky — public statement.
“But as more people understand what is going on in the industry, things will change. Public exposure will change the industry,” Appelbaum said.
“We are going to win,” Hernández said.
aruiz@nydailynews.com.
