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STRYThe minimum wage in California is $8 an hour, but car washowners often pay less, according to a recent investigation by theLos Angeles Times, which found that hand car washes often violatebasic labor and immigration laws with little risk of penalty.Too often, there is no or inadequate safety equipment andtraining on how to deal with hazards and chemical exposures.Clean drinking water, breaks and meals, minimum wages, overtimepay and health insurance are also problems.“We will do whateverit takes to clean up thecar wash industry.” Jon Hiatt, general counsel for the AFL-CIOUSW“For years, car wash workers have been treated as the newmodern slave labor, working for no wages, with no safetyprotections, no sick days and no health care,’’ saidMary Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurerof the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.“So, for these workers, this campaign is morethan just about giving them an opportunity at a lifeout of poverty. It’s about giving them and theirchildren the basic right to survive as humanbeings,” Durazo added.Assembly line environmentThe employer’s profit depends on the numberof cars that can pass through in a given time periodand on the ability to sell more expensive servicessuch as detailing. An efficient full serviceconveyor driven car wash can service up to 1,000cars per day.A car wash literally resembles a traditionalassembly line in which the pace is set by theemployer. This means workers are under tremendouspressure to work fast and to work according toa standard of cleanliness acceptable to customers.By the same token, the car wash industry isprone to down time — rainy days and slow periodswhen demand is slack. The workers are hired foras few or as many hours as the boss requires,ensuring they have no job security.Many employers choose to hire Spanishspeakingimmigrant workers from Latin Americabecause they are the ultimate flexible, or casual,work force — too frightened to complain about the illegaland exploitative working conditions.If not properly managed, car washes can have an adverseeffect on the environment, according to the CaliforniaEnvironmental Protection Agency. The waste water can includeoil and grease, detergents, phosphates, solvents and variousother chemicals.Right now in Los Angeles, some car wash owners areaccumulating large profits by cheating workers out of wagesand benefits and polluting the environment.But with profit margins averaging 29 percent, organizersbelieve car wash owners can provide decent jobs, help makecommunities more environmentally friendly and be profitable.“I’m organizing with my co-workers because I’m tired of theinjustice, the disrespect. I’m tired of the working conditions,’’said car wash worker Bosbely Reyna.“We work really hard but it’s never enough for the boss. Theyyell at us to work faster and tell us we’re no good. They neverthank us for doing a good job.”Local 675 organizer Mario Giron (right) and car wash workersmarch with hundreds of other union workers from Hollywood in LosAngeles to the ship docks of San Pedro, California. The three-daymarch, billed as a “Fight for Good Jobs” by the Los Angeles labor federation,ended with a spirited rally attended by 6,000 union supporters.USW@Work • summer 2008 31