
{"id":14621,"date":"2010-12-16T13:36:35","date_gmt":"2010-12-16T18:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=14621"},"modified":"2010-12-16T13:36:35","modified_gmt":"2010-12-16T18:36:35","slug":"towns-to-convene-task-force-to-look-at-day-laborer-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2010\/12\/16\/towns-to-convene-task-force-to-look-at-day-laborer-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"Towns to convene task force to look at day laborer issues"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Susan Dickson<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For years, day laborers have unofficially assembled near the intersection of Jones Ferry and Davie roads hoping to be picked up for a few hours\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 work. When a contractor arrives, would-be workers surround the car asking to be chosen; a few are selected, hop in the car and are gone within seconds. <\/p>\n<p>But day laborers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c\u00c2\u00a0mostly Latino immigrants \u00e2\u20ac\u201c\u00c2\u00a0don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be paid or how many hours they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be expected to work without a break. Contractors don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know the workers they pick up or whether they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll do the work they promise to do. <\/p>\n<p>And neighbors of the unofficial day-laborer station have concerns about loitering and the issues that it brings. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our work is very hard, and also carries a lot of risk,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Alberto Rodriguez, a day laborer said through a translator to an assembly of Orange County Justice United members last week. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When we get a day of work, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if the contractor is going to pay us. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are hoping that a well-organized place can be created \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a center where we can feel respected and work with pride,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n<p>The mayors of Carrboro and Chapel Hill committed last week to work toward improving the day laborers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 situation by convening a task force that will examine and address the surrounding issues.  <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very difficult situation that requires people to think specifically,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Mauricio Castro, a member of Justice United\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s immigrant family action team. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It requires also different sectors to be involved.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The immigrant family action team has been taking an in-depth look at the day-laborer issues and building relationships with the workers to determine what is needed and wanted as a solution.<\/p>\n<p>The team asked the mayors, Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce President Aaron Nelson and Carlo Robustelli, director of Durham Tech\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Orange County Operations, to publicly commit to the task force. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think this is an issue of real concern to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton told Justice United members, adding that he wants to work toward \u00e2\u20ac\u0153having a permanent, safe location where day laborers can seek work.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt said people in Chapel Hill often incorrectly regard the issues surrounding day labor as a problem for other jurisdictions.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is our community often where the employment actually takes place and where the employers are from and where the employees live,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is as much a challenge for Chapel Hill &#8230; as it is for Carrboro or Orange County.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is an issue I care about,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he added. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Past issues<br \/>\n<\/strong>The Carrboro Board of Aldermen approved an anti-lingering ordinance for the intersection of Jones Ferry and Davie in November 2007 after residents of the surrounding neighborhood complained of public consumption, public urination and garbage in the areas around the intersection. The ordinance prohibits waiting at the intersection from 11 a.m. until 5 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>There were murmurs of creating an official day-laborer station in 2009 when after police reported that the ordinance appeared to be working, neighbors said problems continued. But plans for the station never took shape.  <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This has been something that flares up every now and then,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Castro said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It never goes anywhere.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Castro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s team has been researching the issues over the past several months and he hopes the task force can come up with a viable solution. The group has looked at official day-laborer stations in other cities, talked with the day laborers that gather in Carrboro and attempted, with little success, to contact contractors who hire the workers. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We feel that at this point, we have quite enough info that indicates there is a tremendous interest in finding a viable center,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Castro said. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Challenges<br \/>\n<\/strong>Because the hiring process at the Jones Ferry\/Davie gathering spot is unofficial and so fast, Castro said his group has had a hard time connecting with contractors who hire day laborers.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are hoping that by connecting through the chamber of commerce that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to begin to build some sort of a relationship that is more formal and looking at the best interests of those who hire [the workers],\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Castro said he has heard concerns regarding possible locations of the day-laborer station, but none from day laborers. The current gathering spot is close to several apartment complexes that are home to many Latino immigrants. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a conversation that we are going to open up with them very soon too,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Whether transportation are issues of concern or whether the location is a concern.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>The group also wants to correct the perception that all day laborers are undocumented immigrants. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The perception is that these people are all undocumented, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not true. We have learned that a lot of them are not,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Castro said.<\/p>\n<p>There is a long way to go, he added, but for now  the task force will continue the work of Justice United\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s team.  <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153At this point, the place is not going anywhere. It is still a work in progress and we are taking an approach of being very realistic about the situation,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Castro said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We feel that if this is done correctly &#8230; that there will be protection for the workers as well as for the people who hire them.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For years, day laborers have unofficially assembled near the intersection of Jones Ferry and Davie roads hoping to be picked up for a few hours\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 work. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14621"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14656,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14621\/revisions\/14656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}