People who live in New York City and don’t even own cars might shrug about this. But, in the car culture everywhere else, this is an interesting development:

Workers at a Southern California car wash have organized and won a labor contract with their employers, making it what’s believed to be the only unionized car wash in the country.

The agreement, to be announced at a press conference Tuesday morning, is between some 30 car wash workers and the Sikder family, owners of Bonus Car Wash, at 2800 Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica, according to the contract The Times has received.

As part of the agreement, the family has agreed to attempt to reopen Marina Car Wash in Venice, which had closed and had employed another 30 workers, said Chloe Osmer of the Community Labor Environmental Action Network (CLEAN), a group formed to organize car-wash workers.

The contract calls for small pay increases of 2%. Its greater importance, Osmer said, is that it calls for owners to abide by state labor law regarding car wash working conditions, such as work breaks and when workers can clock in. It also provides a procedure for hearing workers’ grievances and requires any new owners of the car wash to abide by the contract.

   It would be interesting to do some quick math about how many workers are out there in the car wash world.