For the past several months, the California/Nevada/Arizona Automotive Wholesalers' Association (CAWA) has been meeting with federal representatives to highlight and promote the national Right to Repair Act. Most recently, the group met with Arizona Senator Jon Kyl's legal counsel, Abby Donovan, at Blackwell's Automotive in Phoenix, where they were joined by representatives from the independent repair sector as well as the motorcycle repair sector. When asked why Senator Kyl was invited to attend this event, Rodney Pierini, president and CEO of CAWA, explained to Aftermarket Business magazine staff members. "Senator Kyl is the second-ranking republican in the senate in a leadership role right now. His support for this bill would go a long way in helping us accomplish what we want to accomplish." During the meeting with Donovan, industry representatives discussed the difficulty many independent repair facilities have getting the information they need to diagnose and repair vehicles. In many cases, the representatives explained, technicians have to take the car or its computer system back to the dealership to complete the repair on behalf of their customers. "Passage of the national Right to Repair Act is critical to ensure full and affordable access for independent repair shops to have the tools and service information needed to repair today's and tomorrow's complex vehicles," Pierini adds. "We feel confident that we highlighted the problems the industry currently faces for Senator Kyl, and have encouraged him to support HR 2694 in Washington." According to Pierini, studies have shown that the independent repair shops are losing $5.8 billion annually because they do not have access to the information they need to correctly diagnose and repair vehicles. The representatives who attended the meeting with Donovan in Phoenix were able to give her first-hand examples of how these statistics have affected their businesses, effectively driving home the point CAWA wanted to make. "Donovan seemed to understand the issue very well," says Pierini. "She made every effort to assure us that she understands the issue, and that her meeting with us is part of the preliminary research that will enable her to make a recommendation about the Right to Repair Act to Senator Kyl." CAWA representatives have also been busy meeting with state representatives to discuss issues such as Workers' Compensation, career and technical education and the importance of maintaining a robust aftermarket industry. Jennifer Zins, CAWA's director of Government Affairs, recently met with California Senator Tom Harman at Hub Auto Supply in Costa Mesa, Calif., where representatives from all areas of the aftermarket were on hand to discuss legislative and regulatory issues. "Because Senator Harman belongs to both the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee and the Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee — two committees that CAWA-interested bills often pass through — it is important to meet with him to talk about the bills we support," Zins says. According to Zins, Harman was receptive to hearing about issues such as the recent attempts to erode workers' compensation reforms, the skyrocketing costs of providing health care for employees, repeated attempts to lock the aftermarket out from providing parts and repairs to consumers, the increased need for career and technical training programs and actions by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to extend warranties and propose bans of automotive related products. "Keeping choice available for customers is important," adds Zins. "That's a big part of our message. And, because we are located in California, where legislators have focused on greenhouse gas emissions, we want to make sure legislators understand the positive role the aftermarket plays in climate change." This proactive push, at both the state and federal level, is keeping the automotive aftermarket and its employees in the spotlight. During the next few months, CAWA plans to collaborate with other industry organizations — specifically, the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) and the Coalition of Auto Repair Equality (CARE) — to identify representatives they can meet with about the national Right to Repair legislation. "Having the ability to meet one-on-one in an aftermarket shop with aftermarket professionals really helps lawmakers understand the real world implications of the need for the Right to Repair Act," Pierini says. "CAWA and its members in California, Nevada and Arizona are committed to making certain that consumers throughout the nation have access to a competitive vehicle repair industry through the passage of HR 2694." For more information about CAWA or its educational programming, visit the organization's Web site. |
