They have been without income for more than two months, living on loans and donations from food banks
MThe thousands of Latinos who work as car washers in Los Angeles County are desperate because they have not had an income for more than two months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health only allows the opening of car wash businesses that are part of a gas station and practically self-service that do not require dealing with staff, except to pay or guide the driver on how to Getting in and out of the car wash, but self-contained businesses must remain in compliance with the Stay at Home order.
Los Angeles Attorney Mike Feuer's office revealed that they imposed criminal charges on 60 businesses in the city of Los Angeles that have opened, despite the order to stay closed. One of those affected is the Beach Cities Car Wash business in the Venice neighborhood west of the city of Los Angeles.
"At times I have felt that I am going to go crazy thinking about how to do it," says Agustín Luna, a 51-year-old car wash, originally from Puebla, Mexico.
"I've spent borrowing friends and my brother to pay the rent and the phone bills. "he comments.
He has been able to eat thanks to the food that is donated to him in food banks.
"Today, for example, I only had a coffee for breakfast with a piece of bread," he says.
“Sometimes my sister-in-law gives me the lunches they give her at school for her children. It's children's food, but it's better than nothing. ”
Agustín shares a one-bedroom apartment with a friend dedicated to construction, who has also had his work hours cut.
Her situation was aggravated with the death of her mother on April 4 in Mexico. "She was already sick, but in New York, a brother-in-law died from COVID-19," he says.
The few savings she had went to helping her family in Mexico pay for her mother's funeral.
“Before, I used to send my parents between 500 and 700 dollars a month. I was paying 4,500 pesos to some relatives to take care of my sick mother. "
A 2007 study revealed that in Los Angeles, there are more than 10,000 car washes in Los Angeles County.. "Many more work in more than 500 car wash businesses," says Flor Rodríguez, director of the Clean Carwash Campaign, an organization that fights for car wash rights and to avoid wage theft.
The average age of these workers ranges from 30 to 60 years.
"They stopped working for weeks before the Stay at Home order was issued, because there were two weeks before with a lot of rain," he says.
Flor comments that there is concern that When car washes reopen, industry offers workers face masks and gloves to protect themselves from the virus. But also provide them with clean water to wash their hands regularly and rest areas.
‘We have struggled in the past, before COVID-19 because they were not given the tools to protect themselves, and we do not want them to risk their lives for the need they have to return to work.”
Flor asked the owners of these businesses to take responsibility, and protect workers as well as customers.
Although not allowed, some car wash businesses have opened on weekends, exposing themselves to fines.
Fausto Hernández, a 60-year-old car wash, has survived thanks to the fact that he lives in the home of his son, his daughter-in-law and three grandchildren. But she already wants to go back to washing cars, which has been her way of life for ten years.
"I send my wife and my mother-in-law money to Oaxaca, but since the coronavirus started and we were out of work, I have not been able to send anything or help my son with whom I live ”.
Fausto says that before the coronavirus he worked six days a week, sometimes up to nine hours a day, at a rate of nine dollars an hour.
Santos Herrera, 55, has been working as a car wash for five years.
"I was able to pay the rent with a grant of $ 260 that they gave me in the Clean Carwash Campaign, but these months without work I have been struggling," he says.
Santos is charged $ 400 by a friend to sleep in her living room and have access to the bathroom and kitchen.
