USW Announces Victory for Los Angeles Car Wash Workers

Agreement calls for back pay and reinstatement

Contact:  Joe Stuligross, 412-562-2533

PITTSBURGH – The United Steelworkers (USW) today announced a formal settlement of an unfair labor practice complaint against Vermont Hand Wash, a Los Angeles car wash that is at the center of an organizing campaign.

The National Labor Relations Board settlement (NLRB), which includes the type of broad cease and desist order used only against the most egregious labor law violators, achieves a dramatic victory for workers in an industry afflicted with sweatshop conditions. 

“Justice has been served,’’ said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. “We are proud to join with car wash workers and others in the community in standing up to employers who intimidated, harassed and fired their employees for pursuing their legal right to safe working conditions and a voice on the job. Their struggle for justice is our struggle.”

The agreement authorizes the NLRB in Washington, D.C. to enter a cease and desist order precluding Vermont Hand Wash from violating 27 specific labor law requirements as well as a broad prohibition on violating the National Labor Relations Act “in any other manner or by any other means.” 

The agreement calls for back pay and reinstatement of workers fired for participating in the organizing campaign and compensation to employees for time lost when the employer unplugged the time clock during union demonstrations.

A settlement notice must be read by the car wash owners to employees during paid working time with an NLRB agent and union representatives present.

The parties consented to a court judgment, which means any future violations could bring contempt of court proceedings.

Vermont Hand Wash has also earlier been cited for serious OSHA violations and its owners have been charged with criminal misconduct for repeatedly and willfully violating labor laws and creating a work environment which, according to the Los Angeles City Attorney, “bordered on indentured servitude.”

Mostly immigrant car wash workers last year formed the Car Wash Organizing Committee affiliated with the USW to raise their standard of living, secure basic workplace protections and address serious environmental and safety hazards for the 18,000 car wash workers in southern California.

Since then, the USW affiliated organizing committee has worked in partnership with the AFL-CIO and the Community-Labor-Environmental Action Network, also known as CLEAN.

In addition to the cease-and-desist agreement to stop violating the National Labor Relations Act, Vermont Hand Wash agreed to pay back wages totaling $52,442 to four employees who were fired or saw their hours cut as a result of the organizing campaign.

The car wash will also pay $8,925 to be distributed to employees in return for management’s decision to unplug the time clock during union picketing.  Each employee could receive about $200.

The back pay awards include:

– $21,985 to be paid to former employee Jose Torres for firing him, cutting his hours and assigning him less desirable duties where he did not receive tips. Torres declined reinstatement.

– $19,307 to be paid to Bosbely Reyna in back pay for firing him and assigning him less desirable duties. Reyna also waived reinstatement.

– $9,500 to be paid to Israel Jimenez in back pay for firing him, cutting his hours, assigning less desirable duties, and ordering him not to start work because of union picketing. His offer of reinstatement will remain open for two years.

– $1,650 to be paid to Pedro Guzman for cutting his hours, assigning him to less desirable duties, sending him  home for refusing to propagate an anti-union message, sending him home for refusing to acknowledge unfair warnings and instructing him not to report for work to avoid paying him “show up pay” under California wage and hour law.

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