Vol. 71/No. 31      September 3, 2007

The local law, approved by the city council June 6, prohibits workers from soliciting jobs on sidewalks and parking lots if doing so limits pedestrians to less than three feet of walking space. Police in this Los Angeles County town have used it to harass immigrant workers who gather near a local Home Depot.

“Things are much better since we won the injunction,” said Israel, a day laborer here who asked to be identified only by his first name. “Before, the police threatened us with tickets of up to $500, arrests, and even taking us to immigration. Once the cops came with their guns drawn. Now we are able to look for work without fear.”

One proponent of the anti-day laborer ordinance, city councilman Anthony Bejarano, claimed it was designed to avoid accidents and keep the public safe. “We just want to protect the city’s residents,” he told the Spanish-language daily La Opinión.

On June 20 about 300 day laborers and their supporters rallied in front of city hall to protest the ordinance. Among those present were representatives of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, which is providing legal defense for the day laborers, and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

“We began to organize against the racist attacks on our constitutional and human rights,” said Israel. “We’ve decided to call ourselves the Union of Day Laborers of Baldwin Park.”

He noted that as they began to organize, the workers increased their cooperation in seeking jobs. “We don’t compete here,” he said. “If a guy hasn’t worked for a while, and a job comes by, someone will give up a spot for him. If an employer doesn’t pay above a certain minimum, none of us work for him.

“The next step in our fight is to defeat the proposal and to get a clean, safe hiring center.”

Wendy Lyons contributed to this article.
 
 
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