Minimum Wage Unions: Car wash in New York City = Failure

Andylusion

Gold Member
Jan 23, 2014
20,988
6,286
290
Central Ohio



So for those who don't want to watch the whole thing....

Unions in NYC, made a push to unionize the car wash employees. They succeeded in unionizing 11 car washes. Two of those car washes closed down. Three others, the unions left the car wash after employees opposed the unions.

With the Union drive failing, the activists started pushing for a higher minimum wage. The results of this was to drive car washes to replace people with machines. This was a huge benefit for car washes that were already mechanized.

Meanwhile, many formerly employed car wash people have started illegally washing cars from vans parked on the street. These shadow economy car washes, are now the target of government and the Unions, to be shut down and jailed.

Some of the very employees that supported the Unions, now are the target of the Unions to be thrown in jail.

Conclusion:

Unions are not there for the benefit of the workers. This is a well known, and established fact. They harm the people that they claim to be for.

The minimum wage eliminates jobs, and drives people into the black market.

Everything that right-wing people have said about Unions and the Minimum Wage, documented and empirically observed, in 3 years.

And contrary to the claims that the owners will make do with less profits, and other nonsense..... Instead the owners were making even more money than before, because the unions and the laws, drove out competition, while at the same time reducing their labor.

Two key moments in the video:

A man who runs a car wash installation company, said that in years before, they were removing automatic car washes in favor of manual labor, which created jobs.

The Unions and the Minimum wage completely changed that trend, where now they are reinstalling automatic car washes to replace manual labor, eliminating jobs.

The other key moment was the car wash Vegas Auto Spa, which was where the protest first started, where all the employees celebrated their victory and their unionization....... was closed, and all the employees laid off.
 



So for those who don't want to watch the whole thing....

Unions in NYC, made a push to unionize the car wash employees. They succeeded in unionizing 11 car washes. Two of those car washes closed down. Three others, the unions left the car wash after employees opposed the unions.

With the Union drive failing, the activists started pushing for a higher minimum wage. The results of this was to drive car washes to replace people with machines. This was a huge benefit for car washes that were already mechanized.

Meanwhile, many formerly employed car wash people have started illegally washing cars from vans parked on the street. These shadow economy car washes, are now the target of government and the Unions, to be shut down and jailed.

Some of the very employees that supported the Unions, now are the target of the Unions to be thrown in jail.

Conclusion:

Unions are not there for the benefit of the workers. This is a well known, and established fact. They harm the people that they claim to be for.

The minimum wage eliminates jobs, and drives people into the black market.

Everything that right-wing people have said about Unions and the Minimum Wage, documented and empirically observed, in 3 years.

And contrary to the claims that the owners will make do with less profits, and other nonsense..... Instead the owners were making even more money than before, because the unions and the laws, drove out competition, while at the same time reducing their labor.

Two key moments in the video:

A man who runs a car wash installation company, said that in years before, they were removing automatic car washes in favor of manual labor, which created jobs.

The Unions and the Minimum wage completely changed that trend, where now they are reinstalling automatic car washes to replace manual labor, eliminating jobs.

The other key moment was the car wash Vegas Auto Spa, which was where the protest first started, where all the employees celebrated their victory and their unionization....... was closed, and all the employees laid off.


In a city where an apt dweller will pay $40 for a round trip cab ride to eat a good bagel -- probably shouldn't quibble about $15/hour. But make that a REGIONAL or national thing, and you're really distorting the local cost of living..
 
Further:

Not every car wash owner is willing to take on the risk and expense of automation, and there's another option: Exit the business and relinquish their land for more profitable uses. That's also happening at many New York car washes, such as Woodside Car Wash at 69-02 Queens Blvd., and Cambria Car Wash at 208-15 Linden Blvd., also in Queens. A couple years ago, Cambria converted to a pharmacy and a Dunkin' Donuts because, the owner says, labor costs were rising.

AND:

The Minimum Wage Protects Incumbent Businesses

Another unintended consequences is that for business owners who choose to stick it out and automate, the $15 minimum wage actually protects them from competition by making it harder for new car washes to open up.

"Solely from being a businessman, the increase in the minimum wage makes my business so much easier—the best thing that could happen to me and I think to the industry," says Jack Belinsky, the manager of a new car wash in Queens. (Belinsky is also the vice president of the Association of Car Wash Owners.)

The car wash that Belinsky manages—the owner asked that we not publish the name or address of the business because he's concerned about political repercussions—opened last year at the site of yet another labor-heavy operation that closed following a wage and hour lawsuit. The new owner converted it to a fully automated exterior-only car wash, meaning customers are left to vacuum the interiors of their own vehicles.

"We used to do the same thing with 25 people, and now I'm doing it with two," says Belinsky.

By making cheap labor illegal, the $15 minimum wage made it possible for Belinsky to downgrade his service. "Before if I go exterior, my competition would say, 'ah, he went exterior and I'm still full-service so I'll take all his customers,'" Belinsky says. "That never gave me a chance to go exterior. Now everybody is forced to go exterior because of this crazy law and the minimum wage $15 per hour. It evened out the field."


Why Car Washes Are Disappearing in the Big Apple | Mark J. Perry


So, the higher M-Wage drives some businesses to automate, others to close, and disincentivizes new businesses to start-up. IMHO, there may be some places and industries where the higher M-Wage isn't such a big deal, but it's not the sort of thing that the federal gov't ought to nationalize.
 



So for those who don't want to watch the whole thing....

Unions in NYC, made a push to unionize the car wash employees. They succeeded in unionizing 11 car washes. Two of those car washes closed down. Three others, the unions left the car wash after employees opposed the unions.

With the Union drive failing, the activists started pushing for a higher minimum wage. The results of this was to drive car washes to replace people with machines. This was a huge benefit for car washes that were already mechanized.

Meanwhile, many formerly employed car wash people have started illegally washing cars from vans parked on the street. These shadow economy car washes, are now the target of government and the Unions, to be shut down and jailed.

Some of the very employees that supported the Unions, now are the target of the Unions to be thrown in jail.

Conclusion:

Unions are not there for the benefit of the workers. This is a well known, and established fact. They harm the people that they claim to be for.

The minimum wage eliminates jobs, and drives people into the black market.

Everything that right-wing people have said about Unions and the Minimum Wage, documented and empirically observed, in 3 years.

And contrary to the claims that the owners will make do with less profits, and other nonsense..... Instead the owners were making even more money than before, because the unions and the laws, drove out competition, while at the same time reducing their labor.

Two key moments in the video:

A man who runs a car wash installation company, said that in years before, they were removing automatic car washes in favor of manual labor, which created jobs.

The Unions and the Minimum wage completely changed that trend, where now they are reinstalling automatic car washes to replace manual labor, eliminating jobs.

The other key moment was the car wash Vegas Auto Spa, which was where the protest first started, where all the employees celebrated their victory and their unionization....... was closed, and all the employees laid off.



That was pretty good watch



.
 

Forum List

Back
Top