NEW YORK — Brooklyn carwash workers are suing their employer for underpaying them, according to the New York Daily News.
Eight workers at the Vegas Auto Spa claim the wash’s operator withheld more than $600,000 in wages. They say they were paid less than minimum wage, sometimes $4.50 an hour, said the article.
The workers also claim they were not paid “overtime for working as much as 90 hours a week,” stated the article.
Juan Calel has worked at the carwash for six years. He started out making $5 an hour, and he now makes $7, noted the article.
Read also: Workers march for fair, legal wages
The suit is part of the carwashero campaign, which has been successful in securing settlements for other wage violations. Carwash workers have also begun to unionize in the movement, reported the article.
“What we’re seeing here is that hardworking people who are least protected, the ones who are in greatest need of income, are the ones whose wages are being stolen,” said Stuart Appelbaum, head of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union. Appelbaum added the carwash industry has gotten away with shortchanging workers in the past, reported the article.
Appelbaum also said in the article that Vegas Auto Spa could owe more than $1 million.
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