Virus shuts day laborer job centers nationwide
1 Bay Area center still open; organizers hope many will go digital
The coronavirus pandemic has forced the closure of many day laborer centers throughout the country, including most in California, putting thousands of people out of work.
“We did it to protect workers, the community and employers. It is not good that 50 labor workers are together in a center waiting for a job,” said Pablo Alvarado, director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, or NDLON.
In the first two weeks of March, amid the pandemic, employers stopped showing up at the centers.
“In recent days, it was very rare that someone came looking for workers,” Alvarado said.
“A day laborer center is the first place where a crisis is felt,” he said. “Those who hire workers usually are people who have a surplus of money. Fifty percent are homeowners, 43% contractors or subcontractors, and 7% restaurant owners. Employers no longer have that extra money, they become more protective of their income, and they no longer hire workers.”
Most of the 70 day laborer centers in the country have closed. California has about 20 centers.
But in the Bay Area, the Day Worker Center of Mountain View has decided not to close, unless it is forced to, because the workers need so much help, said director María Marroquín.
“Without a job, they will not have money to pay rent, support their families and send money
to their countries,” she said. “We will continue to be open, but following the rules dictated by Santa Clara County to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. We do not allow more than 10 day laborers within the facilities, and we monitor that they maintain a social distance of 6 feet.”
Another reason to stay open, she said, is that the center has a dining room offering day laborers breakfast and lunch Monday to Saturday. The center is considering offering food on Sundays, given the shortage of work that has arisen with the coronavirus.
“The only thing that has changed is that they cannot eat on the premises, and they have to take the food away,” Marroquín said.
Most day laborers are undocumented immigrants without access to paid sick days. They are unable to work from home, have no access to health care, no financial security, and live day to day.
About a quarter of the day laborers are homeless.
“With the coronavirus, authorities ask us to stay home, not to go out, but many of the day laborers do not have a home,” Marroquín said.
Even though the center has not closed, hiring has collapsed — down by 90%.
“On a normal day, 50 day laborers go out to work. On a recent Friday, only eight workers left,” she said. “I have lost my job.”
Los Angeles has 10 day laborer centers, plus dozens of corners where workers congregate seeking day jobs. The National Day Laborer Organizing Network estimates that there are 35,000 day laborers in the city.
María Zamorano, a 50-year-old day laborer in Los Angeles, has two overwhelming fears: loss of work and contracting the coronavirus. All of her cleaning jobs have been canceled as people shelter in place.
“I’m very well-known because I do a good job, but none of that matters now. I have lost my job, and I am asking God to stop this pandemic as soon as possible,” Zamorano said.
Zamorano said she had been making a good living as a house cleaner for her clients through the Pasadena Community Job Center, a day laborer center.
“Through my job as a labor worker, I was able to support my three children as a single mother. Now that they are adults, I work to support myself, pay my rent, my car and send money to my parents and a daughter who became a widow in Mexico,” she said.
Zamorano has been a day laborer for 14 years and now has been without work for more than two weeks.
“I’ve gotten some construction work and deepcleaning jobs in places not very hygienic, and who knows if it is contaminated with the coronavirus, but we have to do what we can to survive,” she said.
Thousands of laborers who congregate on corners throughout California cities in their search for daily work may be at risk.
“We have 700 day labor corners in 22 states of the country,” Alvarado said. “There is no control on the streets. These workers do not have any help, and it is a great concern that employers can take them to sterilize homes and public places with no protections.”
The Los Angeles metropolitan area has 125 corners where day laborers gather as early as dawn and wait for employers.
Among the measures ordered by Gov. Gavin Newsom to stop the pandemic from spreading was a directive for people 65 or older to isolate themselves at home.
The day laborers’ ages range from 18 to 75 years.
The need to work is so great that many day laborers began to pretend to be younger, Alvarado said.
“They started to tell us, ‘What do you want us to do? If we don’t look for a job, who is going to feed us?’ ”
Alvarado said the anguish is twofold: They have been left without a job and can be exposed to the virus.
“If someone gets the virus, they should know that even if they are undocumented, they can ask for help. They should call us, and we will guide them to obtain the health services they need,” he said.
The Pasadena Community Job Center has closed.
“We have designed a virtual system for employers to apply for workers online or by phone,” said Manuel Vicente, site coordinator for the center.
“We also established a filter to assure the employer that the day laborer who goes with them to work is healthy,” he said.
In addition, the center has given day laborers protective equipment with masks, gloves, glasses and antibacterial gel.
However, this option has not calmed the fears of the day laborers.
“If they can’t work, how are they going to pay the rent for their home and cover other essential expenses?” Vicente said.
The goal of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network is for all day labor centers to become virtual employment centers for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.
“If they have computers, internet and a phone, they can do it,” Alvarado said.
The Pasadena Community Job Center has a collection center for food, such as beans, corn, rice and oil, to give to workers.
“We are going to create a social protection network by establishing a donation fund that allows us to help day laborers with the rent for their home, services and other expenses because the bills do not wait, and we do not want them to be condemned to suffer,” Alvarado said.