LA Times: Unions target owners of five L.A. carwashes

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-carwash28-2009sep28,0,6469641.story

Organizers focus on a chain of businesses owned by Iranian immigrants who are facing 220 charges of worker abuse.


Demonstrators protest at a Hollywood carwash. An attorney for Benny and Nisan Pirian say organizers have targeted them to intimidate the industry. (Ringo H.W. Chiu, For The Times / September 19, 2009)

By Patrick J. McDonnell

September 27, 2009

An aggressive push to organize thousands of immigrant carwash workers in Southern California has sparked a fierce battle pitting big labor against two brothers who are major players in the Los Angeles carwash industry.

The labor movement has emptied its arsenal against Benny and Nisan Pirian, entrepreneurs whose family operates five carwashes in Los Angeles County. The Pirians settled a federal labor complaint last month but still face criminal charges, a class-action suit, a union boycott and recurrent demonstrations.

The carwash dispute is being closely watched nationwide as one of the latest fronts in organized labor's push to bolster its immigrant ranks. The sponsorship of the AFL-CIO and the United Steelworkers underscores how such campaigns have gained mainstream footing after successful efforts to organize janitors, drywall workers and others.

"It shows that the plight of low-wage immigrant workers is now very much on the radar of organized labor," said Ruth Milkman, a labor expert at UCLA.

This month, union backers took the unusual step of holding a candlelight vigil outside Benny Pirian's Beverly Hills home, inviting a rabbi to join the speakers in excoriating the brothers' alleged mistreatment of workers.

"We are just looking for respect, to be treated as human beings," said Pedro Guzman, a worker at the Vermont Hand Wash, the family flagship, who was among the participants.

FULL story at link.

[demosincebirth]

1. that business, the carwash , is notorious for low pay and treating workers like shit., Good luck!