NEW YORK — A group of New York carwash owners has filed a lawsuit against New York City, according to The New York Times.

The complaint was filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan on Oct. 16 by the New York City Association of Carwash Owners, which represents around 90 carwashes throughout the city, stated the article.

The association alleges that a law officials say is meant to protect low-wage workers is “illegally favoring unions,” reported the article.

The lawsuit centers on new regulations requiring owners of nonunionized carwashes to obtain a $150,000 surety bond before getting a license, continued the article, and unionized operations must obtain a $30,000 surety bond.

Michael A. Cardozo, the lawyer representing the carwash owners, stated that the two-tier system is illegal and violates past decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court which limit local governments’ ability to “favor or discourage collective bargaining,” informed the article, and by making it less expensive for those who have collective bargaining to obtain a license, Cardozo reports that the city law gave them a competitive advantage.

“Governments can’t put their [thumbs] on the scales of whether a company should unionize or not unionize,” said Cardozo in the article. “You’re basically coercing them into entering a collective bargaining agreement.”

A spokesman for the New York City Law Department, Nick Paolucci, reported in the article, “We will review the complaint to evaluate the merits of their claims, but believe that the legislation is legally sound and serves to protect hard-working carwash workers.”

Passed in June, the law is known as the Car Wash Accountability Act, noted the article.

Read the entire release here.

The Professional Carwashing & Detailing editors covered the passing of this bill in a past edition of Carwash eNews. You can find this coverage here.

Todd Bryant, president and founder of Bryant Surety Bonds, recently discusses carwash surety bonds in PC&D’s Guest Post. You can read more on this topic here.