No matter how cold the weather, dozens of day laborers
gather every morning in the parking lot of a Northeast Philadelphia shopping
plaza hoping to find work with the contractors who stop at The Home Depot for
supplies.
This informal economy has its routines. A food truck stops
by every morning with breakfast and sandwiches in wax paper. When a beige van
pulls up next to a grassy median, a small group converges at the passenger-side
window to go back and forth with the driver about what he’s looking for that
day.
The day workers aren't welcomed here, but, so far, no one
has found a better place for contractors and day workers to connect.
A man who asked that his real name not be used because of
his immigration status said the further he moves from the entrance, the more
likely someone else will get the next job.
Originally from rural Mali, he said he got the childhood
nickname "Philadelphia" after seeing a movie set in the city.
"My teacher [was] asking me -- if you're grown up, what
are you going to want to be, like judge, lawyer, police, contractor. I say no,
my dream is to live in Philadelphia," he said. "That was my dream
ever since I was in third grade at school."
He traveled to the U.S. on a business visa in 2004 and
stayed after it ran out.
Now, the man called "Philadelphia" works out of
the parking lot, earning between $40 to $100 a day – just enough to pay his
bills and then send money every month to help his father in Mali. He's usually
hired only a few days a week.
'We're just trying to eat'
Day laborers have had a steady presence at this spot for
years, and their numbers have grown quite a bit. Most speak Spanish. Some West
Africans speak French and English. There are also a couple African-American men
from North Philly.
M. Morris said he's frustrated police regularly patrol the
lot, sometimes ticketing day laborers for trespassing.
"We're out here doing nothing wrong. What we're trying
to do is get some work, to do something positive. I could see if we were out
here trying to rob all these damn stores out here, excuse my language but, man,
we aren't doing nothing," Morris said. "We aren't trying to hurt
nobody. We're just trying to eat."
City police say they patrol partly in response to complaints
about car break-ins, and the day laborers say police are giving out fewer
tickets than they used to. In the past six months, the police department said
it issued about 40 tickets. If drivers don't have a license, their cars are
towed.
Around 9 a.m., a police car that had been on the sidelines
moved in to herd workers toward the far end of the plaza. The officer pulled up
along an idling pickup truck.
"Why are all those guys around your truck," he
asked the driver.
Workers said police have ticketed some contractors too.
Handing over his license and registration to the officer, the driver said he
works construction but was not looking to hire anyone.
The crowd of day laborers upsets him, he said, because
they’ll work for less than he can.
"Listen, you can't sit. Signs are posted," the
officer told him. "You're going to sit here, you're going to pay for
stuff, and then you're going to go. Because if you sit here, you're going to
draw attention. And the guys are going to come and harass you."
A Home Depot spokesman said there is no solicitation policy
for all its stores. That applies to people handing out fliers or collecting
donations too, he said.
The head of the 2nd Police Precinct, Capt. Frank Palumbo,
said it's his officers' job to honor the company’s requests.
"I try not to get involved in the motives of the day
workers. I don't really have any opinion about that that would affect how I do
my job as far as their status here or anything like that," Palumbo said.
"But I do know that anybody that would congregate, no matter their status
was, as a day worker ... on private property, that that should be deterred if
... that private property representative does not want that activity
there."
Trying to work out a solution
A few months ago, one of the workers outside this Home Depot
got in touch with some immigrant advocates who began coming to the plaza and
convening workers’ meetings.
Yoan Calvo Machado organizes restaurant workers with the
Restaurant Opportunities Coalition as his day job.
Here in the Northeast, Machado explained, "What we want
to get ... is a specific spot, a place that they can let us stay, maybe to put
a bathroom or a table where we can track and organize them better."
These sorts of workers' centers exist in other parts of the
country. Towns such as Freehold and Lakewood in New Jersey have tried
designated “muster zones” with various levels of success. California Home
Depots have leased land to Los Angeles and Burbank, who let nonprofits set up
day centers.
The Philadelphia organizers have convened meetings with day
laborers, City Council members and police over the past several months, but
haven't come up with an alternative yet.
In the meantime, the mix of immigrants and lifelong
Philadelphians keep showing up in the lot, searching for work, at least for
today.
Source: NewsWorks
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