The Strippers Co-Op partnered with the CLEAN Carwash Worker Center and CLEAN Wash Mobile Cooperative for a car wash to raise funds for laborers and families impacted by ICE raids.
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Destiny Torres
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LAist
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Topline:
Labor groups hosted a bikini car wash near MacArthur Park on Friday to raise funds for car wash workers and their families who have been affected by the ongoing ICE raids.
Who is involved? The event was a partnership between the Strippers Co-Op, the CLEAN Carwash Worker Center and the CLEAN Wash Mobile Cooperative.
Why it matters: Along with day laborers and street vendors, car wash workers have been among the most targeted by ICE enforcement. Carlos Amador, economic justice manager at the CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, said masked agents have detained more than 260 workers from more than 88 car wash businesses since raids started in June.
Read on … for more on how the labor groups banded together.
An unexpected coalition of labor groups joined forces Friday to host a bikini car wash near MacArthur Park and raise money for car wash workers and their families who have been hurt by the ICE raids. The event was in collaboration with the Strippers Co-Op, the CLEAN Carwash Worker Center and CLEAN Wash Mobile Cooperative.
Los Angeles has seen over 88 car washes targeted by agents and over 260 workers detained, according to organizers. Some have signed a “voluntary” departure and are no longer in the country.
“A few of them are still fighting. More than 30 families are connected to us who are fighting that deportation, and we have been successfully able to bring three workers home,” CLEAN executive director Flor Melendrez said. “We wouldn't be able to do that if it weren't for our community support and all the efforts happening around us.”
The industry is suffering
Immigration enforcement has heavily targeted day laborers, street vendors and car wash workers, Carlos Amador, economic justice manager at CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, said. As a result, many households are struggling to pay for rent, groceries and other necessities.
Carlos Amador, economic justice manager at the CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, is among the organizers to host the car wash fundraiser. Money raised will go to families hurt by ICE raids.
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Destiny Torres
/
LAist
)
“The economic impact is very, very serious,” Amador said. “The impact has been devastating, where some car washes have fully closed because of the workers who have been taken.”
Carmen Gutierrez, an organizer with CLEAN, said workers are afraid.
“Car wash workers have to not only do their job but also be vigilant of their surroundings,” Gutierrez said. “We are hearing of a lot of workers who are leaving the industry because of this.”
Saba Waheed, director of the UCLA Labor Center, said Friday’s event is a great example of worker solidarity.
“Car washers are on the front line of everything from the cruelty of this administration to the complete violation of basic human rights to the fact that we're legalizing racial profiling and building a mass incarceration state,” Waheed said.
Worker solidarity
Velveeta is a stripper from Hollywood who helped organize the event. She said strippers have learned a lot from the labor movements of car washers.
“We find the work that the Carwash Worker Center has done since 2007 to raise industry standards super inspiring. The strippers are following in that path,” Velveeta said. “We hope to raise industry standards like you have, and it really requires that solidarity.”
Antonia Crane, founder of Strippers United, also volunteered with the Strippers Co-Op on Friday.
“These are my neighbors and friends, and I care deeply about them and their well-being, and we are working very hard to fight ICE,” Crane said.
Antonia Crane founded Strippers United and volunteered with the Stripper Co-Op at the bikini car wash fundraiser. Money raised will go to car wash workers and their families who have been hurt by ICE raids.
