Carwashero (carwash worker)
A “carwashero” (plural “carwasheros”) is a carwash worker. The term was printed in the Los Angeles (CA) Times on March 23, 2008, describing the Spanish-speaking immigrants who comprised most of the workers. “Carwasheros” was printed in the Daily News (New York, NY) on September 9, 2012.
23 March 2008, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “A Times Investigations: Workers getting soaked at Southland carwashes” by Sonia Nazario and Doug Smith, pg. 1, cols. 3-4:
”¿Cuánto gana usted?” the inspectors asked worker after worker, about 20 of them, most Latino immigrants. How much do you make? Each carwashero responded that he earned minimum wage or more—just as the owner of the Blue Wave, one of the region’s busiest carwashes, had told the inspectors.
(Pg. 1, col. 3 photo caption—ed.)
THERE’S THE RUB: A worker at Blue Wave Car Wash in West Los Angeles cleans a vehicle as it’s pulled along by a chain. From Santa Monica to Westwood to Koreatown, many carwasheros say they receive only tips for some or all of their shifts.
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Working At the Carwash Blues
Lets Roll
3/23/08
“Many of the business owners are legal immigrants from Asia and the Middle East. ...the new owners often brought from their homelands a cavalier attitude toward the law and a tendency to treat workers almost like property.”
http://ktla.trb.com/news/ktla-carwash,0,4905489.story
A team of state inspectors strode into the Blue Wave Car Wash in West Los Angeles, past latte-sipping customers in electric massage chairs and into the gritty carwash tunnel.
”¿Cuánto gana usted?” the inspectors asked worker after worker, about 20 of them, most Latino immigrants. How much do you make? Each carwashero responded that he earned minimum wage or more—just as the owner of the Blue Wave, one of the region’s busiest carwashes, had told the inspectors.
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On the March with Los Carwasheros!: Amy Masciola from the AFL-CIO Organizing Department joined in on.. http://tinyurl.com/5ousst
1:06 PM - 5 May 2008
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I feel sorry for the carwashero who is working on the passat covered in bird crap
4:28 PM - 19 Jul 2009
Eater—Los Angeles
Marina Car Wash Works To Stage “Plight” Play Outside Koi
by Kat Odell Dec 22, 2010, 4:54am PST
(...)
WHAT: This Wednesday night, organizing carwash workers from Marina Car Wash who lost their jobs when the owners closed the business right before Christmas will be taking their struggle to the stars. The carwasheros, as they’re known, will be performing a play about their plight at the celebrity-frequented KOI restaurant, which is owned by members of the same family involved in the carwash.
Daily News (New York, NY)
Workers at Queens car wash form the city’s first car washers union
By ERICA PEARSON
SEP 09, 2012 | 2:20 PM
Workers at a Queens car wash became the first in the city to unionize this weekend, hoping to combat what they say are low pay and poor working conditions.
Immigrant “carwasheros” at Hi-Tek Car Wash & Lube Inc. in Elmhurst voted 21 to 5 Saturday to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.
Daily News (New York, NY)
Brooklyn ‘carwasheros’ vote to join union to secure minimum wage plus tips, overtime
By STEPHEN REX BROWN
FEB 16, 2016 | 4:10 PM
(...)
The workers — who call themselves “carwasheros” — now belong to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. They are the 11th carwash to join the union.
QNS (Queens, NY)
‘Carwasheros’ strike for living wages in Flushing
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) / Monday, May 15, 2017 / 12:00 AM
By Gina Martinez
Flushing car wash workers, frustrated with the owners’ refusal to negotiate a new contract, went on strike Sunday.
The workers, also known as “Carwasheros,” chanted and waved picket signs in front of their job site at Main Street Car Wash, located at 57-34 Main St.
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The immigrant workers at a chain of New York carwashes — the carwasheros, as they call themselves — routinely had their tips stolen by their boss, who paid them roughly $4 an hour. Then they sued and won $8.5 million.
3:23 PM - 23 Feb 2019