The International Carwash Association criticized a union report this week that condemns the Southern California carwash industry and its working conditions, calling the white paper misleading.
“The International Carwash Association views this report as an unfair indictment of the carwash industry and further believes the report to contain distorted facts,” said Mark Thorsby, ICA executive director.
The report, titled Cleaning Up the Car Wash Industry: Empowering Workers and Protecting Communities, was released recently by the Car Wash Workers Organizing Committee (CWWOC) of the United Steelworkers and is being used in support of efforts to unionize carwash workers in the Los Angeles area.
The white paper alleges labor, health, safety and environmental violations by numerous carwash operators in Southern California from accounts given by carwash workers and from citation reports from various California agencies. The report paints a grim picture of Southern California carwash working conditions, recounting workers’ stories of pay below minimum wage or non-payment for hours worked, denial of breaks, and of employees being forced to work in hazardous conditions without safety equipment or proper training.
“The thousands of workers who shampoo, wax, dry, and detail cars are some of the most exploited workers in Los Angeles,” reads a passage from the report’s Executive Summary. “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.”
While acknowledging that some carwash operators do not properly adhere to the professional standards supported by the ICA, Thorsby said, “Responsible carwash owners treat their employees fairly, pay them competitively, train them comprehensively, ensure their safety and that of their customers, and protect the environment. The overwhelming majority of carwash owners operate their businesses in a professionally responsible manner.”
Thorsby said the ICA believes carwash operators who disregard labor, safety and environmental laws should be prosecuted but does not think the formulation of a carwash workers union would solve the problems professed in the CWWOC report because there are already laws in place to protect against such activities.
“The association does not believe that a union will properly address the needs of carwash employees in Southern California or employees throughout the entire carwash industry,” he said.
The report uses inflammatory language in pointing the finger at Southern California carwashes and occasionally takes broader swipes at the carwash industry’s labor, safety and environmental record, sometimes using content from informational government bulletins and old trade journal articles from as long ago as 1999, in a way that could be misconstrued as prevalent problems in today’s professional carwash environments.
“There are laws in place that are routinely enforced to ensure workplace safety,” Thorsby noted. “Unions are not now, nor have they ever been, a remedy for criminal offenses.”
While the California minimum wage is $8 per hour, the CWWOC report contends that some carwash workers routinely earn just $5.50 or $3.50 per hour, sometimes less.
“The report suggests that carwash workers are unable to negotiate directly with owners and are in need of assistance in the form of a union. The majority of professional carwash owners pay their employees above the minimum wage, and carwash owners who violate labor laws should be prosecuted,” Thorsby asserted.
In its criticism of the carwash industry’s environmental impact, the CWWOC report even takes aim at carwash water consumption and wastewater management, two of the industry’s signature environmental positives.
“There are laws in place to ensure that professional carwashes do not harm the environment,” Thorsby noted. “Professional carwashes typically use less than one-tenth of 1 percent of a municipal daily water supply. In fact, professional carwashes are the environmentally friendly way to wash your car. All professional carwashes are required to send their wastewater to sanitary processing plants for treatment, and most carwashes utilize some form of water reclamation system.”