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June 27, 2012

Suit: Car wash workers got hosed

By  Erica Pearson / Daily News


A BROOKLYN car wash got served by its workers Wednesday.

Seventeen current and former washers at Hi-Tek Car Wash in Brighton Beach filed a federal lawsuit against the company, saying they were stiffed on overtime and didn’t get minimum wage.

The legal move, which follows a similar suit at a different car wash in the Bronx, is the latest step in a citywide campaign to clean up the industry amid a unionization drive.

The employees’ lawsuit claims they earned less than the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour with tips factored in.

Workers also said they often toiled for more than 40 hours a week without getting overtime — and that managers withheld tips to pay for damage to vehicles.

Aaron Morales Romero, 23, said he worked at Hi-Tek for five years but left this March because he couldn’t make ends meet earning $5.25 an hour with little tips.

“The work is good, but what isn’t good is the salary and the mistreatment,” said Morales. “Sometimes they would call us on our days off, and not give us overtime . . . the way my co-workers are still working is a disaster.”

A Hi-Tek manager said the claims were untrue.

“They [campaign organizers] are brainwashing employees to take their side. That they are not paid properly is not true,” said Gary Pinkus.

The immigrant employees filed suit with help from WASH New York, a campaign run by nonprofits Make the Road New York and New York Communities for Change and backed by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

For the original article, click here.


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Victory for Immigrant Families: Preventing Unjust Deportations in NYC

On March 18, 2013, Mayor Bloomberg signed new legislation to stop federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from using NYC’s criminal justice system to deport thousands of New Yorkers.

Building on legislation we helped to win just over a year ago, Local Laws 21 and 22 prohibit not only the Department of Correction but now also the NYPD from spending millions of city taxpayer dollars to hold individuals on behalf of ICE agents for detention and deportation. Each year, thousands of New York families will stay together who would otherwise have been torn apart by overly aggressive, indiscriminate immigration enforcement.

At a moment when the country is debating immigration reform, with these laws, New York City sends a clear message to Washington that tearing apart thousands of immigrant families is bad policy.

With your support, we look forward to winning national reform that keeps families together. We thank our partners at the Center for Popular Democracy, the Cardozo Immigration Justice Clinic and the bills’ sponsors, NYC Council Speaker Quinn and Council Member Mark-Viverito, for their courageous leadership.


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