Free Market in Action: Cali Car Washes Pay Illegals $1.63 per Hour

[Mike Ellis]

I guess they're doing the slave labor that Americans just won't do.

We are told by the Dollartarians that illegals aren't hired because they can be given lower wages; they are hired because business just can't find anybody else willing to do the work. If that were true, these guys would be making at least minimum wage wouldn't they? HA HA HA almost got that line out with a straight face....

Once again we see proof of what everybody already knows - illegals are paid less, they are paid illegally under the table to avoid taxes, and they are frequently cheated of even that miserable compensation. The whole process rips off the American taxpayer, who has to cough up the dough to support the whole scheming mess and all of the social costs involved with supporting the crooked businessman's labor force.

Those of you who live in Cali, remember to honk and wave the next time you drive by a car wash. The owner may smile and wave back. He certainly should, because YOUR TAXES are paying his workers.

Inspectors find dirt on books at Southern Calif. carwashes - Los Angeles Times

Inspectors find dirt on books at Southern Calif. carwashes
By Sonia Nazario and Doug Smith, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
2:34 PM PDT, March 22, 2008

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.

Looking over payroll records, however, the regulators became suspicious. Employees who said they were full time were listed as working just 10 or 15 hours a week.

Inspector Martha Mendoza ushered Juan Cruz Santiago, a small man with salt-and-pepper hair, away from the others. During gentle questioning under a ficus tree, he admitted that most days, he and his 66-year-old father worked for tips only. So did nearly half the other employees, he said. It had been that way for at least six years.

"It's bad," the 41-year-old Oaxacan immigrant whispered to Mendoza, his eyes darting nervously toward his boss' office. "Other carwashes are the same, no?"

Many are. A Times investigation has found that hand carwashes, automotive beauty shops patronized by tens of thousands of Southern California motorists every day, often brazenly violate basic labor and immigration laws, with little risk of penalty.

Half or more of carwash owners flout the minimum-wage law, estimated David Dorame, the longtime lead investigator for low-wage industries at California's Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

Despite many undocumented workers' reluctance to complain to authorities, employees at a fifth of Southern California's carwashes in the last five years have formally accused owners of illegally underpaying them, The Times found.

From Santa Monica to Westwood to Koreatown, many workers said they received only tips for some or all of their shifts. Labor division inspectors estimated that about 10% to 20% of car dryers are not paid by owners.

"Tips only" is a requirement for some new workers until owners are satisfied that they can properly dry a car, laborers said. Their take is typically $10 to $30 a day.

At the Blue Wave, owner Isaac Shanfeld of Beverly Hills told inspectors that all of his workers earn at least minimum wage, costing him $700,000 a year. He said he didn't know of anyone working for tips alone, but added: "I can't police everyone." After the inspection last fall, he was issued a $2,600 citation for wage violations.

(snip)

Say, that's pretty good return on investment there Isaac. Screw your workers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and pay a $2600 fine. Good job, buddy. Tonight I'll say a prayer hoping that you get sucked into one of your car wash machines and thoroughly mangled, ya thievin' bum.