AB 236, "The Car Wash Worker Law" Heads to Assembly Floor
Labor Desk
May 30, 2009
LAW HELPS IMPROVE ENFORCEMENT, BRINGS IN FUNDS TO STATE DURING BUDGET CRISIS.
Sacramento — This Thursday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee passed AB 236, a bill to renew the state´s "Carwash Worker Law," and the legislation will now move on to a vote by the full Assembly. The Carwash Worker Law will expire on December 31, 2009, unless it is renewed. AB 236 would renew the law and make it permanent.
With the initial passage of the Carwash Worker Law in 2003, the Legislature acknowledged that existing laws did not adequately protect some of the state´s most vulnerable low-wage workers. In March 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported that two-thirds of carwashes inspected by the state´s labor department since 2003 were out of compliance with one or more labor laws and that many owners pay less than half of the required minimum wage.
The law requires all carwashes to register with the state, enabling the state to prevent employers who have violated labor laws in the past from continuing to do so. It also requires that carwash employers purchase a surety bond as wage insurance and contribute to the "Carwash Worker Restitution Fund," both of which provide workers with a means to collect wages if an employer is unwilling or unable to pay. The law is self-funded through the carwash registration fee and through civil fines for failure to register.
In a period of severe budget crisis, the Carwash Worker Law has generated additional funding to the state since its implementation. The cost of implementing the law for the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) is estimated at about $650,000. In 2007 and 2008 the DLSE assessed $10.6 million in fines to carwash owners violating labor laws, including $5.9 million in fines for non-registration.
"The Carwash Worker Law brings in much-needed funds for the state, protects workers, and ensures that responsible businesses are not at a disadvantage for following the law," said California Assemblymember Sandre R. Swanson, the bill´s author.
One of the most notorious examples of illegal behavior in the industry is the case of two Los Angeles carwash owners, Benny and Nisan Pirian, charged by the Los Angeles City Attorney with criminal misconduct at four of their facilities. A hearing was held yesterday for the criminal defendants. The City Attorney´s office added charges to the complaint it has filed against the owners, their carwashes, and one of their managers, bringing the total to 221 counts of criminal misconduct. The counts include charges of conspiracy, witness intimidation, grand theft, failure to pay wages, brandishing a deadly weapon, and sexual battery.
Nearly 50 organizations have expressed their support for passage of AB 236 as a means to improve conditions in the largely underground carwash industry.
The Community-Labor-Environmental Action Network, or CLEAN, is a coalition of community organizations, unions, immigrant rights organizations, environmental and worker health and safety advocates, working to improve working conditions in the carwash industry. For more information about the CLEAN Carwash Campaign visit our web site at http://www.CleanCarwashLA.org.
Sacramento — This Thursday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee passed AB 236, a bill to renew the state´s "Carwash Worker Law," and the legislation will now move on to a vote by the full Assembly. The Carwash Worker Law will expire on December 31, 2009, unless it is renewed. AB 236 would renew the law and make it permanent.
With the initial passage of the Carwash Worker Law in 2003, the Legislature acknowledged that existing laws did not adequately protect some of the state´s most vulnerable low-wage workers. In March 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported that two-thirds of carwashes inspected by the state´s labor department since 2003 were out of compliance with one or more labor laws and that many owners pay less than half of the required minimum wage.
The law requires all carwashes to register with the state, enabling the state to prevent employers who have violated labor laws in the past from continuing to do so. It also requires that carwash employers purchase a surety bond as wage insurance and contribute to the "Carwash Worker Restitution Fund," both of which provide workers with a means to collect wages if an employer is unwilling or unable to pay. The law is self-funded through the carwash registration fee and through civil fines for failure to register.
In a period of severe budget crisis, the Carwash Worker Law has generated additional funding to the state since its implementation. The cost of implementing the law for the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) is estimated at about $650,000. In 2007 and 2008 the DLSE assessed $10.6 million in fines to carwash owners violating labor laws, including $5.9 million in fines for non-registration.
"The Carwash Worker Law brings in much-needed funds for the state, protects workers, and ensures that responsible businesses are not at a disadvantage for following the law," said California Assemblymember Sandre R. Swanson, the bill´s author.
One of the most notorious examples of illegal behavior in the industry is the case of two Los Angeles carwash owners, Benny and Nisan Pirian, charged by the Los Angeles City Attorney with criminal misconduct at four of their facilities. A hearing was held yesterday for the criminal defendants. The City Attorney´s office added charges to the complaint it has filed against the owners, their carwashes, and one of their managers, bringing the total to 221 counts of criminal misconduct. The counts include charges of conspiracy, witness intimidation, grand theft, failure to pay wages, brandishing a deadly weapon, and sexual battery.
Nearly 50 organizations have expressed their support for passage of AB 236 as a means to improve conditions in the largely underground carwash industry.
The Community-Labor-Environmental Action Network, or CLEAN, is a coalition of community organizations, unions, immigrant rights organizations, environmental and worker health and safety advocates, working to improve working conditions in the carwash industry. For more information about the CLEAN Carwash Campaign visit our web site at http://www.CleanCarwashLA.org.
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