Los Angeles Public Interest Law Journal

LOS ANGELES PUBLIC INTEREST LAW JOURNAL

1 L.A. PUB. INT. L.J. 312

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CARWASHERO: A “CLEAN” MESSAGE*
Bosbely Reyna

          In February 2007 I started to work for the Carwash Industry. The owners of this carwash are Benny and Nisan Pirian and the Manager is Manuel Reyes. During my first days at the job I realized that I was never introduced to my fellow co-workers by my manager, nor was I given any instructions or training on what precautions to take at the job. I was never given any information regarding my salary.

          Manuel Reyes, my manager, told me that if I worked for free for one week then I would be hired. During my first days at the job I learned everything there is to know about the carwash industry. I worked ten hours to eleven hours a day and I would have to ask for a break to eat. Even then, sometimes during the rush hours when many cars would pull in, the manager would tell us to get up from the table and would tell us “go to work.” My coworkers and I would work drying cars and each day we would each have to hand dry at least forty to fifty cars. With eleven hours working we would ask the manager to give us some time to eat and to take water breaks and he would always tell us “after—right now there is no time.”

* This is an excerpt.  Please download PDF to read in full.