Jan. 11, 2012 | By Shereen Marisol Meraji | KPCC

California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced Tuesday that the owner of eight car washes in California must pay a combined settlement of $1 million for worker exploitation. All of the businesses were purportedly operated by one man, Dipu Haque.
 

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News Release from the Office of the Attorney General - January 10, 2012
 

SAN FRANCISCO -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that her office secured more than $1 million from eight Northern and Southern California car washes that underpaid workers, denied rest and meal breaks, and created false records of time worked.
 

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Get $3.00 off your next carwash at Bonus, and find out how you can help the campaign. Read more >>>

Get $3.00 off your next carwash at Bonus, and find out more about how you can help the campaign.  Read more >>>

Please join us this Friday, November 18th,  for food, drinks and dancing as we celebrate our first contract victory. After all the hard work you have put into this landmark victory, it's time to party! Bring your friends, family, co-workers and anyone else who wants to have a good time.

October 25, 2011 (Los Angeles, CA) –Today carwash workers with the CLEAN Carwash Campaign announced a union contract with Bonus Car Wash in Santa Monica, making Los Angeles home to the only unionized carwash in the country. The agreement marks the first contract won by the CLEAN (Community Labor Environmental Action Network) Campaign in its efforts to end decades of abuses suffered by Los Angeles carwash workers. Read more >>>

The CLEAN Carwash Campaign today joined partner Brave New Foundation to announce a new mini-documentary aimed at highlighting the horrific exploitation of LA carwash workers. A product of BNF’s Cuéntame initiative, “The New American Sweatshop” shines a glaring light on the inhumane and illegal conditions the carwasheros are forced to endure. View the video at http://mycuentame.org/carwash/.

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The CLEAN Carwash Campaign

CLEAN stands for Community-Labor-Environmental Action Network.  We are a diverse coalition of nonprofit organizations committed to improving the lives of working families in greater Los Angeles.  Carwash workers are some of the hardest working and most exploited workers in our city, often working for less than minimum wage and without basic protections required by the law.  The CLEAN Carwash Campaign is a joint effort of CLEAN and the Carwash Workers Organizing Committee (CWOC) of the United Steelworkers to raise carwash workers' standard of living, to secure basic workplace protections and to address the serious environmental and safety hazards in the Los Angeles carwash industry.

 

Together the CLEAN carwash campaign coalition will work to support carwash workers who are standing up for their rights, to improve health and safety protections for the 7,000-10,000 carwash workers in the greater Los Angeles area, and to help to keep our water and environment clean for LA communities.

 

CLEAN is committed to:

• Supporting the right of carwash workers to organize a union and bargain collectively.
• Improving working conditions and ensuring that carwash employers meet labor standards and abide by fair workplace practices.
• Demanding environmental clean up to ensure that wastewater from carwashes does not contaminate our rivers or oceans.

 

 

What are Conditions Like for Carwash Workers?

 

Carwashes routinely violate basic employment laws like those requiring workers be permitted to take rest breaks or have access to shade and clean drinking water.

• Workers frequently work 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, often with no overtime pay.
• Workers are often paid less than the legal minimum wage, sometimes earning as little as $30-$40 per day ($3-$4/ hour) or working for tips alone.
• Carwash workers are subject to health and safety hazards such as constant exposure to water and to dangerous chemicals without protective gear.
• Workers in the industry have reported kidney damage, respiratory problems and nerve damage due to their exposure to these hazards.

 

 

How Do Carwashes Impact Our Community?

 

There has been very little oversight of carwashes by enforcement agencies historically, which has allowed carwash owners to disregard employment and environmental laws.

 

 

The Environment

 

According to the California Environmental Protection Agency, professional carwashes can have a negative impact on the environment if not properly managed.  Contaminants in carwash water, which may contain highly toxic chemicals such as ammonium bifluoride and hydrofluoric acid, can cause a variety of health effects, including kidney damage, increased cancer risk, and developmental delays.

It is clear that too many Los Angeles carwash owners disregard their legal and ethical responsibilities to protect our environment.

The Department of Public Works has issued numerous citations to LA carwashes for violating environmental regulations, and carwash workers report that wastewater runoff routinely leaks into storm drains.  These carwash owners are endangering our local rivers, oceans, and groundwater.