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The thousands of workers who shampoo, wax, dry, and detail cars are some of the most exploited workers in Los Angeles. They frequently work in appalling conditions for low or, in many instances, no wages. Too often, car wash owners flout labor laws, health and safety regulations, and environmental protections in their single-minded drive for profits. Their practices put workers, customers, and even the general public at risk.
In 2002, California car wash owners reported $872 million in revenue, and Los Angeles County owners reported more than one-third of the state’s total revenue, or $251 million. Unfortunately, the prosperity of car wash owners has not translated into a decent living for car wash workers. Although the minimum wage in California is $8 per hour, many car wash owners pay their workers by the day at rates far below the legal minimum.
In addition to paying wages that are illegally low, Los Angeles car wash owners often deny their workers the most basic workplace rights and protections required by law. Analysis of case files of the California Occupational Health and Safety Administration (Cal/OSHA) reveal numerous citations of car wash owners in Los Angeles. Working at a car wash can be difficult and even dangerous, especially during the hot summer months when temperatures in Los Angeles approach 100 degrees. Workers are frequently forced to work without safety equipment, training on how to deal with hazards and chemical exposures in their workplaces, clean drinking water, breaks and meals, minimum wages, overtime pay, health insurance, or respect and dignity on the job.
Professional car washes can have an adverse impact on the environment if not properly managed. The Department of Public Works has cited Los Angeles car wash owners for violating environmental regulations, and car wash workers report that wastewater runoff, which can contain highly toxic chemicals, sometimes leaks into storm drains. Car wash owners who violate environmental laws are endangering our local rivers, oceans, and groundwater.
Right now in Los Angeles, some car wash owners are accumulating large profits by cheating workers and polluting our environment. However, with industry-wide profit margins averaging 29%, car wash owners can provide decent jobs and help to make our communities more environmentally friendly places. Car wash workers throughout Los Angeles have formed the Car Wash Workers Organizing Committee of the United Steelworkers (CWWOC) to raise their standard of living, to secure basic workplace protections, and to address the serious environmental and safety hazards that exist in their industry.
Our heart belongs to horsepower. Earthquakes have shaken this place, but nothing has shaped it like our mad automobile love.
— Los Angeles Times, June 21, 2006
On a sunny day, hundreds of cars might come through the car wash where I work. The boss yells at us to work faster as the cars line up down the street. We are not allowed to stop for a break or for lunch. They don’t give us any fresh water to drink. Sometimes it’s hard to breathe because of the chemicals; my eyes sting and my skin sometimes breaks out in a painful rash. For all this, I’m paid about $35 for a 10-hour day and when I get sick I have no insurance to pay the bill.
— Saturnino Hernandez, car wash worker2
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CLEAN CAR WASH CAMPAIGN
