Carwash Worker Law Renewal Signed Into Law 10.13.09
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 13, 2009
Contacts: Chloe Osmer, CLEAN Carwash Campaign, 323-203-5197
Carwash Worker Law Renewal Signed Into Law
Bill Extends Protections to Workers In Violation-Plagued Industry
This Sunday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law AB 236, a bill to renew the state’s “Carwash Worker Law” and extend it to 2014. The law was co-sponsored by the California Labor Federation and the CLEAN Carwash Campaign and authored by Assemblymember Sandre Swanson. The law requires all carwashes to register with the state, enabling the state to prevent employers who have violated labor laws in the past from continuing to do so. It also requires that carwash employers purchase a surety bond as wage insurance and contribute to the “Carwash Worker Restitution Fund,” both of which provide workers with a means to collect owed wages.
California leads the nation in both the number of establishments and employees in the carwash industry, with more than 1,600 and 22,000, respectively. Unfortunately, too many carwash employers routinely violate basic labor laws leading to unsafe and unhealthy workplaces for workers and the communities they serve. Workers have reported being paid less than half of California’s $8 an hour minimum wage and some are paid only in tips. Many workers also endure dangerous working conditions, including exposure to toxic chemicals without proper protective gear.
Manuel Carino, a carwash worker in Los Angeles was able to recover $15,000 of wages he was owed for his work at a carwash. When his employer refused to pay him the money he was owed, he applied to the owner's wage bond with the help of Bet Tzedek Legal Services. “My employer at the carwash paid me $23 for a 10-hour day for two years. Without the Carwash Worker Law I would never have been able to recover the money I was owed.”
More than 50 community, faith, environmental and labor organizations expressed their support for passage of AB 236 as a means to improve working conditions in the largely underground carwash industry.
"Our communities have borne witness to the suffering of workers who toil in our state’s carwashes,” said Rabbi Jonathan Klein, Executive Director of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE). “Every religious tradition holds that this exploitation must end. The Legislature, by passing the Carwash Worker Law, is recognizing the inherent worth of these workers—created in the Divine image—and their right to be paid fairly for a hard day’s work."
The Carwash Worker Law is designed to protect some of the state’s most vulnerable low-wage workers. In March 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported that two-thirds of carwashes inspected by the state’s labor department since 2003 were out of compliance with one or more labor laws. Violations included underpaying workers, hiring minors, operating without workers’ compensation insurance, and denying workers meal and rest breaks.
"A recent report revealed that carwashes throughout the State have not fully complied with the 'Carwash Worker Law,' said California Assemblymember Sandre R. Swanson, the bill’s author. “The extension of this program will ensure that workers are protected. California cannot afford to let carwash owners blatantly violate the law without consequence."
According to Ramona Ripston, Executive Director of the ACLU of Southern California, “The Carwash Worker Law was intended to be a tool to root out the egregious violations of labor law that occur in the industry. As the law has been implemented, enforcement efforts in the underground economy have improved and for the first time workers have had access to justice. We are proud to have been part of a coalition that made this happen.”
In a period of severe budget crisis for California, the Carwash Worker Law has generated additional funding to the state since its implementation. In 2007 and 2008 the DLSE assessed $10.6 million in fines to carwash owners violating labor laws, including $5.9 million in fines for non-registration. The cost of implementing the law for the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) is estimated at about $650,000.
“With the passage of AB 236, carwash workers throughout California will continue to have the chance to recover unpaid wages owed to them by unscrupulous employers,” said Henry Huerta, director of the CLEAN Carwash Campaign. “However, much more needs to be done. CLEAN will continue to support workers in their efforts to improve enforcement of the Carwash Worker Law and seek real justice for carwasheros.”
The Community-Labor-Environmental Action Network, or CLEAN, is a coalition of community organizations, unions, immigrant rights organizations, environmental and worker health and safety advocates, committed to improving working conditions in the carwash industry. For more information about the CLEAN Carwash Campaign visit our web site at www.CleanCarwashLA.org .
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