Immigration Committee Considers Job Centers
for Day Laborers

n March 31^st, the City Council’s Committee on Immigration, chaired by Council Member Kendall Stewart, held an oversight hearing on New York City’s day laborers. The committee considered Intro. 592, which proposes a commission to explore the feasibility of creating job centers for the day laborers, implemented jointly by the City and community-based organizations.

Stewart began the hearing by explaining the need for these job centers to replace the over 60 sites in the metropolitan region – mostly on street corners and in parking lots – where day laborers congregate to seek employment. One report indicates that up to 85% of these laborers have experienced some form of abuse at the workplace – such as not being paid or being underpaid for their work, being deprived of breaks for food and water, and being made to operate dangerous machinery without proper safety equipment, precautions or training. In addition, circumstances surrounding the congregation of day laborers on city streets have generated community strife.

One solution that has already proven successful in alleviating many of these problems is the creation of day laborers job centers. These centers, run by community-based organizations, strive not only to ensure worker's rights and safety and hold employers accountable, but to provide educational and social services to day laborers. An excellent example is the job center on Bay Parkway, Brooklyn, started by Council Member Vincent Gentile, the bill’s prime sponsor, during his tenure as State Senator. "These public/private partnerships are a win-win for both the workers and the community." Gentile said.

They’re also beneficial to honest employers. This was made clear by Victor Lopez, a contractor who used to hire off the street but has been using the Bay Parkway Job Center since it opened. "When I used to pick someone up off the street, I didn't know if they were a carpenter, a construction worker or if they would do a good job," Lopez said. "The center is better because I tell the staff what kind of help I need, and they match me with the proper workers. I have more control, and the quality of workers is better."

In his testimony, Michael Higgins, the Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York, urged the Immigration Committee to support the City/community organization model because his office has found that government agencies are much more efficient when working in conjunction with community groups that have established trusting relationships with day laborers. One reason is that the vast majority of day laborers are recent immigrants, and many of them are understandably skeptical about approaching a government agency. "But when we can talk to day laborers through community groups they trust and feel comfortable with," Higgins concluded, "much of that skepticism may melt away."

Guillermo Linares, Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, stated that the Bloomberg administration supports the goals of Intro. 592; however, Bloomberg believes that the City Charter does not allow what the bill stipulates – that the City Council Speaker has the power to appoint people to the commission. "Under the Charter," Linares stated, "only the Mayor has the power to appoint public officers."

Council Member Lewis Fidler pointed out that this objection was absurd. There are several commissions already in existence, such as the Voters Assistance Commission and the Health and Hospitals Corporation, that have appointees from both the City Council and the Mayor. "Even though the administration claims to be with us, it is bringing up a technical objection that prevents us from moving forward in dealing with the problem of immigrant day laborers," Fidler declared.

Council Member John Liu strongly agreed. He, too, mentioned several commissions of the type the Mayor alleges cannot exist, and added, "There is no way that I doubt the commitment of Commissioner Linares and his Counsel Jimmy Yan; they are truly committed to solving this problem. The administration however, is not."

Chairman Stewart said the committee will have the City Council’s counsel and the administration’s counsel sit down and iron out this legal issue "because it's urgent that we move forward in creating a commission to stop the exploitation of day laborers."

Also at the hearing, the Immigration Committee received testimony from day laborers themselves who described vividly the abuse suffered by many of them as well as the tremendous benefit they’ve gotten from job centers. Oscar Paredes Morales, the Director of the Latin American Workers Project, gave testimony, as did Jairo, Joel, and Santos, day laborers who attend the Bay Parkway Job Center. Marcos and Rev. Terri Troia from El Centro de Hospitalidad of Staten Island also testified.

Further, there was invaluable testimony from immigrant advocates Siobhan McGrath, Policy Researcher with the Brennan Center for Justice, and Amy Sugimori, an attorney with the National Employment Law Project, both members of the New York Day Laborer Coalition. John Arvizu represented the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and Dr. Hector Cordero-Guzman told of the findings of the New York Immigrant Organizations Project.

Read more of Donna's articles at http://www.donnalamb.com/