Nicolas claims unfair wages and abuse at LMC Car Wash in Queens
For a decade, he’s toiled 12 hours a day for meager pay, polishing cars to a gleam with harsh chemicals that make his nose bleed.
Because he’s in the country illegally, like many of his co-workers, he was afraid to complain.
But no longer.
Mexican immigrant Adan Nicolas says he wants New Yorkers to know the anonymous army that keeps their SUVs shiny is being mistreated.
“We need a fair wage — and for them to pay up and stop stealing from us, and abusing us as workers,” said Nicolas, 32, who works at LMC Car Wash in Astoria, Queens. Read more.
The report, “The Dirty Business of Cleaning NYC’s Cars,” cites that workers receive low pay, poor treatment from their bosses and face hazardous working conditions. For example, the report notes that, based on interviews with 89 city car washers at 29 different car wash facilities, “Over 71 percent of the workers were on the job for at least 60 hours a week, with some working as many as 105 hours. Despite the long hours, 75 percent of the workers didn’t receive any kind of overtime pay for exceeding 40 hours.” Read the full story.
“We have been threatened many times if we fight for our rights, so for a long time I didn’t do anything to stand up for myself. But I know that if we unite, we can make sure our rights are respected,” said car wash worker Nelson Hernandez. Read the full story.
The New York Daily News’s editorial board hit a home run today with their editorial on the campaign by New York City carwash workers trying to clean up the industry.
As the editorial says,
“More power to the car wash workers who, in a new push this week, have chosen to exercise their freedom under law to try to organize with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.
“By pooling together and pushing back against unfair and sometimes illegal wages and work conditions — which have been found repeatedly over the years by government watchdogs and nonprofit groups — they can build better lives for themselves and their families.”
Check out the full editorial here, and to show your support and keep up to date on the campaign, like the WASH New York page on Facebook.
The CLEAN Carwash Campaign announced that two more Los Angeles carwashes have signed union contracts making them the second and third businesses in the area to become union carwashes. Meanwhile in New York City, members of Wash New York, a carwash organizing coalition, on Tuesday released a report documenting the unjust working conditions at the city’s carwashes and announced a union organizing campaign among fellow carwash workers. Read more.
Watch the full video clip and view this story/video in Spanish.
A new report alleges mistreatment at the city’s car washes.
Among the findings released by Workers Aligned for a Sustainable and Healthy New York, more than 70 percent of workers said they put in at least 60 hours a week, and 75 percent said they did not make any overtime pay.
About 66 percent report they made less than minimum wage.
Activists gathered at a Flushing car wash on Tuesday to call for stronger wage and hour laws and state inspections of car washes.
The owners of the Flushing car wash could not be found for comment.
The manager of LMC East Harlem car wash, also cited in the report, refuted workers’ claims of being treated unfairly.
New York City carwash workers are following their Los Angeles counterparts to battle rampant mistreatment, wage theft and unsafe working conditions. Today the coalition, WASH New York, released a report—“The Dirty Business of Cleaning NYC’s Cars”—that details the long hours, low pay and dangerous conditions the city’s more than 5,000 carwash workers at some 200 carwashes face every day.
The Wash New York campaign aims to improve working conditions and standards and bring workplace rights and a voice on the job to carwash workers, says Stuart Appelbaum, president of Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).
Carwash workers should be able to exercise the same rights as all other U.S. workers; including the fundamental right to join a union if they so choose. The dirtiest practices in the car wash industry will only become full of more filth and grime if they are ignored. It’s time to wash them away for good.
The campaign is a collaboration between RWDSU and the advocacy groups Make the Road New York and New York Communities for Change.
At a press conference today, carwash worker David de la Cruz Pérez told reporters:
“Washing cars, the boss makes us work long hours, from seven in the morning until 7 o’clock at night, for $5.50 an hour plus tips. They yell at us, they disrespect us, and they treat us as if we were not even human beings.”
Said Vincent Alveraz, president New York City Central Labor Council (NYCCLC):
“As we learned from WASH’s investigative report, carwashes have little oversight, and health and safety regulations are often routinely ignored while wage and hour laws get broken. These workers deserve better, and they are bravely speaking out today for the recognition of their right to join a union.”
Click here for the full report and to learn more, visit www.washnewyork.org and connect with the campaign on Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebookfor the latest news, updates, and calls to action.
The Wash New York campaign is similar to the southern California CLEAN Carwash Campaign where workers at several carwashes have won representation with the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 675.
Media Contacts:
Deborah Axt (Spanish and English). deborah.axt@maketheroadny.org. 347.432.6254
Olivia Leirer. oleirer@nycommunities.org. 646.479.3426
Dan Morris. dmorris@rwdsu.org. 212.684.5300/917.547.8005
First-of-its-Kind Investigative Report Propels Car Wash Industry Reform Effort
New York, NY— An eye-opening investigative report showing widespread mistreatment of the city’s car wash workers was released today by WASH New York, a new campaign launched by Make the Road New York, New York Communities for Change, and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), UFCW, to improve industry standards and achieve greater protection of workplace rights. With a broad coalition of car wash workers, elected officials, labor leaders, and activists, WASH New York—Workers Aligned for a Sustainable and Healthy New York—unveiled the report in front of Metro Car Wash in Rego Park, Queens, a car wash exemplifying some of the worst practices in the industry. Called The Dirty Business of Cleaning NYC’s Cars, the report is based on months of in-depth interviews and meetings with 89 car wash workers at 29 car washes around the city, a representative sampling.
“Washing cars, the boss makes us work long hours, from 7 in the morning until 7 o’clock at night, for $5.50 an hour plus tips,” said David de la Cruz Pérez, a worker at Sutphin Boulevard Car Wash. “They yell at us, they disrespect us, and they treat us as if we were not even human beings. Now we know what our rights are and we want to be respected. We have to be united and put a stop to these abuses and recuperate our dignity.”
On wages, hours, and benefits, the key findings are as follows: more than 71 percent of the workers were on the job at least 60 hours a week, with some putting in as many as 105 hours; 75 percent didn’t receive any overtime pay for exceeding 40 hours; 66 percent reported being paid less than the minimum wage; over 40 percent reported getting only 15 minute or less breaks for lunch; and not a single car wash worker received paid sick days. Only one worker interviewed was offered any kind of health care.
The report also found that scheduling, hours, and pay are subject to the whims of management, and especially, the weather; and that workers were exposed to hazardous chemicals, unguarded machinery, and electrical outlets close to wet surfaces—all without access to the most basic protective equipment.
“The company did not provide us with any protection from the strong chemicals,” said Heriberto Hernandez, a former employee at Metro Car Wash. “We did not have gloves, masks or smocks. “Sometimes, I’d cut my hand or arm-it’s part of the job. There were no first-aid kits at the car wash.”
Five key recommendations for city and state elected officials were presented and discussed at the campaign launch: 1) stronger and more vigilant enforcement of all applicable wage and hour laws, and all applicable workplace health and safety regulations, at the state and city level; 2) an easier path to exercising the right to join a union without fear of intimidation or retaliation; 3) annual state and city inspections to ensure compliance with labor laws and all applicable workplace regulations; 4) state and city publication of best practices for preventing unlawful treatment of car wash workers; 5) state and city hearings on mistreatment of car wash workers and unlawful industry-wide practices.
“We’re here today to say that car wash workers should be able to exercise the same rights as all other workers, including the fundamental right to join a union if they so choose,” said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). City and state elected officials responded favorably and backed the campaign, especially those representing parts of Queens and areas in other boroughs with a large number of car washes.
“I want to send a very clear message to car wash owners: it’s time to end unjust practices like underpaying workers, not providing adequate health and safety protections, and failing to offer crucial benefits like paid sick days,” said New York City Council Member Julissa Ferreras.
“Decent wages and fair working conditions—those are two of the most basic rights of the American worker,” said New York State Senator Jose Peralta (D-Queens). “Below minimum-wage pay and exposure to potent chemicals without protective gear or training is abusive and unacceptable.”
“We cannot stand idly by as the car wash industry exploits their hard-working employees with no regard for their rights,” said New York City Council Member Daniel Dromm (D-Queens). “We demand that car washes provide their workers with living wages and a safe working environment.”
“We take labor violations extremely seriously, and we will not allow the unsafe work environments, low wages, and wage theft to continue,” said New York State Assembly Member Francisco Moya (D-Queens). “These violations are committed disproportionately against immigrants and members of the Latino community, individuals who are often scared to speak up when they are being wronged.”
“This campaign will raise awareness around the unsafe conditions and poor wages some workers experience each day they turn up to their jobs,” said New York Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer. “I support these workers’ effort toward fighting for fair wages and better working conditions in the work place.
“This organizing effort is long overdue, and I am so thrilled that Make the Road New York, New York Communities for Change and RWDSU are all uniting around this important campaign,” said New York Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan).
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A coalition of labor and community groups will launch a campaign Tuesday to improve conditions for workers at the city’s 200 car washes. Read more from Crain’s New York.
