Posted on 04/26/2002 12:46:41 AM PDT by let freedom sing
Valley communities search for ways to resolve conflicts
Day laborers wait for work at 25th Street and Bell Road, where a center for day workers is being considered.
While thousands of day laborers look for jobs, Valley communities are looking for ways to resolve the conflict between the workers and those who don't want them hanging out on street corners and parking lots while they wait for them.
Valley communities now are more open to creating day laborer centers to control the crowds, organize workers and regulate employers.
On Wednesday, Phoenix City Council members will vote whether to spend $118,000 on such a site.
The debate over the centers has been playing out nationally for years. The idea is opposed by those who say the sites legitimize an illegal practice and promote the use of undocumented workers.
More information: • Award-winning special report: 'Dying to Work'
Gustavo Torres, who oversees three centers in Maryland, says a more practical consideration is often the deciding factor. "The demand for cheap labor is so great that people finally realized it's best to let the workers get a place where they can gather," he said.
Besides Phoenix, at least three other Valley communities are considering day laborer centers:
• In Mesa earlier this year, a $700,000 price tag for a center was deemed too steep for the city budget, especially during an election year. A decision was postponed until a new council can take office.
• In Cave Creek, businesses persuaded Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church to open a center despite some local protests.
• Chandler city leaders found a way around opposition by using private donations instead of taxpayer money.
Phoenix Councilwoman Peggy Neely says the center she's proposing at 25th Street and Bell Road is the best way to resolve the situation in an area where dozens of men gather daily to wait for work. The idea has support from nearby businesses and residents, she says.
Neely wants the city to pay for ramadalike structures, a driveway for picking up workers and portable toilets. A non-profit agency would seek federal money and private donations to operate it. Workers would register and wait their turn to be picked up by contractors.
The city should not fund the project, said Patrick O. Walsh of Phoenix-based Concerned Citizens Network, which fights illegal immigration.
He calls the center a "slap in the face for legal immigrants and citizens living in Phoenix."
"How can she (Neely) justify spending $118,000 of taxpayers' money to further an illegal activity?" Walsh asks.
Meanwhile, tensions at a site at Thomas Road and 36th Street in east Phoenix have been escalating as workers continue to gather there daily to look for work.
"An accident is waiting to happen," said area resident Chatham Kitz about the area where workers swarm around slowing vehicles whose drivers may or may not be looking for help. The Home Depot there hired security guards to keep day workers off its parking lot.
If the Phoenix council approves the spending, it enters a race with Chandler to get a center opened.
A day laborer site there was fast-tracked, thanks to private donations, primarily a $10,000 commitment from Bashas'. City officials sympathetic to the concept went after private donations after admitting it would be a tough sell to use taxpayer money.
"Taking city money out of the equation dilutes the controversy," said Pat McDermott, Chandler assistant city manager. "We have been lucky that people are stepping up."
The center could open as soon as June at the Iglesia Metodista Libre on Arizona Avenue, said Pastor José González.
González said he has tried for three years to convince Chandler officials that a center is the solution to provide a roof and restrooms to the 150 to 200 day laborers who congregate in front of his church.
Politicians, he said, are afraid to support a publicly financed center.
Even now that he has the financial backing from Bashas', González can't begin operating the center because the city is requiring him to build shade structures, concrete ground cover and restrooms.
"We all have great expectations about the center," González said. "We're praying that nothing stands in our way."
Day laborers are lured to the Valley by the booming construction industry. They are almost exclusively male. Most are Latino. Many but not all are undocumented.
They are hired by people like Gabino Quiroz, who needs workers for his landscaping business.
Day laborer centers would be good for workers but bad for employers, Quiroz says. Under the proposed setup, employers would pick workers from a designated place or face penalties. Quiroz likes to choose his own workers rather than having workers chosen for him.
One worker, Carlos Lopez, gets up at 5:30 a.m. and walks 20 minutes to Cave Creek and Bell roads to wait for a job digging ditches, cleaning yards or picking up around construction sites. Lopez says a day laborer center means he "wouldn't have to fight my way to get a job."
The 22-year-old is barred from a permanent job because he doesn't have legal papers.
Another worker, Alberto Hernandez, a 45-year-old Puebla, Mexico, native, sends money back to his family.
He spends his mornings at 25th Street and Bell Road, trying to elbow his way into the cabs or beds of pickups driven by potential employers. He doesn't get discouraged easily even after missing a good opportunity.
"There will be others coming," he said.
What we don't know, can't hurt us. /sarcasm
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