Posts Tagged: carwasheros

Workers at the East Tremont Car Wash in the Bronx signed a union contract with their employer, providing wage increases and crucial worker protections.

Workers at the East Tremont Car Wash in Bronx, New York, have signed a union contract with their employer, providing wage increases and crucial worker protections. This is the eighth car wash in New York City where workers have ratified a union contract.

The “carwasheros” at the shop voted overwhelmingly to join the RWDSU last August. Workers at ten car washes in the city have voted to join the union.

The two-year contract calls for many improvements including wage increases in each year of the agreement, fair scheduling, better access to overtime work, paid time off, increased protections for immigrant workers, and a grievance procedure to protect workers and handle workplace issues.

The contract comes in the third year of the WASH New York campaign, a joint effort by New York Communities for Change and Make the Road NY, supported by the RWDSU, that has worked to clean up the car wash industry and improve conditions for the workers. The city’s car washes are staffed mostly by immigrants who make minimum wage or less and who often have been denied overtime pay to which they are entitled by law.

K&P Car Wash workers in New York City vote to join the RWDSU.

Workers at the K&P Car Wash in New York City voted overwhelmingly to join the RWDSU.  They are the ninth car wash to vote to have a union voice since the WASH New York campaign began more than two years ago.

WASH New York, a joint effort by New York Communities for Change, Make the Road NY, and supported by the RWDSU, has worked to clean up the car wash industry and improve conditions for the workers. The car wash workers are mostly immigrants who make minimum wage or less and who often have been denied overtime pay to which they are entitled by law.

To discourage K&P Car Wash workers from voting to join the RWDSU, car wash owners who are members of the Association of Car Wash Owners shut down the K&P Car Wash in the middle of the work day to hold a meeting with workers and urge them not to unionize. Steve Rotlevi, the head of the Association of Car Wash Owners delivered an anti-union speech which, workers said, made them fearful of reprisals if they exercised their right to join the union. One of the workers said the owners also threatened to shut the business down rather than negotiate with the RWDSU.

“We came together and organized ourselves because we want to have a union contract that guarantees us better working conditions,” said K&P Car Wash worker Jose Pedro Calderon. “But most importantly we organized ourselves because we wanted respect,” he continued.

“Even in the face of threats and intimidation, these workers understand the value of a union job that ensures decent wages and a safe workplace. I stand proudly behind the workers at the K&P Car Wash and their decision to join RWDSU so they can provide a better livelihood for their families and communities,” said City Council Member Ritchie Torres.