Thread: Legal day laborers getting word out on Mesa streets

You've GOT to see the pic that goes with this:


GO MAN GO!!!!!
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Legal day laborers getting word out on Mesa streets
Temps holding signs on Mesa streets
JJ Hensley
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 23, 2008 07:03 AM


Where many Arizona businesses saw a challenge when the state's new employer-sanctions law went into effect Jan. 1, Jeremy Bloeman saw an opportunity.

Bloeman, a manager at Temporary Labor Company, a Mesa-based day labor provider, put his crews on the streets with signs touting their legal status, just around the corner from other day laborers in Mesa.

The laborers, who've manned these corners in west Mesa for years, haven't reacted kindly to the sign-toting Temporary Labor workers, even chasing a couple of the less resolute human billboards away. But Bloeman and his employees are determined to continue their efforts to offer a legal way to find day laborers.





"I stay away from them and they stay away from me," said Terry Truelove, 48, who held a Temporary Labor sign at Mesa Drive and Broadway Road late last week."I do get a lot of thumbs up from people driving by, though."

So far, that titular support hasn't translated into increased business for Temporary Labor's workers, Bloeman said, but inquiries have increased and he's got a couple of contracts in the works with employers.

Bloeman is confident the marketing tactic will work, especially as more businesses attempt to cope with the state's employer sanctions law.

"For the most part it's an experiment," Bloeman said. "I wouldn't say that it actually paid for itself yet."

The potential for uneven enforcement was one of the chief criticisms of Arizona's employer sanctions law, which gives prosecutors the ability to suspend a state-issued businesses license for 10 days if the company is found to have knowingly hired an undocumented worker, and revoke the license if the business has a second violation.

Employers who don't use day laborers complained that the legislation unfairly targeted them because they actually keep records of their employees, while those who use day laborers aren't held to the same standards.

Temporary Labor's presence in an area of west Mesa that has become a haven for day laborers doesn't solve the concerns of nearby businesses that have complained in the past about job seekers loitering near their property and deterring customers.

"It's like operating a personnel business off the side of the street," said Tom Butterfly, manager at Karl's Custom VW, which sits across the street from an epicenter of day labor activity in Mesa. "It's still the same problem with traffic and safety and crowds and the problems for my customers."

Bloeman said the sign-holders weren't necessarily for hire on the spot, although he'd work with a company that wanted one of the marketing laborers. The point is to alert businesses that there are still temporary labor options that operate within the letter of the employer sanctions law.

"We're just trying to direct them to TLC," Bloeman said. "I've seen those (other laborers) standing down there, and I know they're getting out to work and so we're standing next to them.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa ... r0123.html

I added the pic for you!

Dixie

Let's hope it's the ripple that becomes a [figurative] tsunami.

Right on and it is not just Blacks a lot of legal Latinos feel the same way.

It's unfortunate the legal temp. svr hasn't increased business yet. This goes to show it's truely about LOW wages to maximise employer profit.

Employees for a temp. svr. get $7.00 - $10.00 an hour. However, the employer pays about $18.00 an hour. The addition money pays the temp. svr overhead and profit.

So, if an employer can still manage to pay a day laborer, he's dollars ahead.

I just sent the news article and the picture to various radio stations such as the Roger Hedgecock show in SD. Hopefuly Roger will call them and set up an interview on the air.

Please do the same and forward the news article on top to your local radio station.

Si se puede..hire LEGAL, AMERICAN, Verified workers! Yippeee!

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-2894--0-0.html

In October when I needed help in putting up a new fence I called our local Labor Ready. I think part of the problem is that most home owners don't know that there are places to hire temporary help. Before I got involved in the illegal immigration issue I was unaware of it.

I think it is a great idea!!! I hope people are smart enough to hire the lega workers....you go guys!