After becoming the first car-wash workers in New York to join a union last September, the employees of Astoria Car Wash & Hi-Tek 10 Minute Lube in Queens recently ratified a contract with their employer. The provisions of the contract negotiated by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union include a nearly $2 wage increase from the current $7.25 minimum wage as well as the addition of sick and personal days and an employee grievance procedure. The Hi-Tek bargaining agreement is the result of a charge lead by labor and community groups such as WASH New York to organize the mostly Latino immigrant car-wash workforce, estimated to number about 5,000. Union leaders branded the contract as a triumph for low-wage immigrant workers and expressed hope for future organizing.
See "Car Wash Workers Ratify First Union Contract In New York City", Dave Jamieson, The Huffington Post, May 28, 2013