Day laborers find tough going in down market
By Brian Creech
Story updated at 3:15 pm on 1/17/2009


Outside the red-roofed shelter in The Home Depot parking lot off Epps Bridge Parkway, a couple dozen Hispanic men gather nearly every morning to solicit work. The men step toward cars, holding up fingers to show how much they'll charge per hour for their day's work, often competing with one another to offer the lowest rate.

Luis, who is not in America legally and gave only his first name, has been waiting among these day laborers for almost two years, and has been able to find work on an almost semiregular basis. He came to Athens because the job market for migrant workers was less competitive and the cost of living was lower than in Atlanta.

Even last winter, when construction and landscaping jobs were the most scarce, Luis could count on work at least one day a week. But in the past several months, contractors haven't been stopping to pick up day laborers. Luis said neither he nor any of the parking lot regulars have been able to find work since late October.

United Food and Commercial Workers Union representative Nicolas Stanojevich said he thought the job market in November 2007 - when day laborers were finding work two days a week on average - was the worst he had seen, but this year's labor landscape makes 2007 look sunny by comparison. Before Stanojevich began working at the union, which is based in Athens at the Pilgrim's Pride poultry processing plants, he spent the past couple of years working with the day laborers who gather at The Home Depot through the Day Labor Center and Athens Economic Justice Coalition and helping them find work.

"When you go to The Home Depot, those are the people who can't find work. It's the bottom of the barrel as far as work goes," he said. "Most people do day labor hoping to find someone who will want to keep them on doing construction or landscaping work."

As Athens' housing market took a hard hit in the downtrodden economy and construction jobs disappeared, the demand for day laborers also decreased.

Among the Hispanic population, permanent construction and landscaping jobs are seen as the best, followed by factory work, Stanojevich said. He added that those factory jobs are dwindling just as quickly as temporary day labor.

Many of the day laborers in Athens are undocumented Hispanic immigrants, Stanojevich said.

Hiring undocumented workers can be a risky practice for local contractors. "I don't do it, and I don't know many people who do," said Sean Hogan of Hogan's Builders.

Hogan said he thought most of the people who hire day laborers are homeowners seeking to save money by not hiring a licensed contractor.

Stanojevich said sometimes people also will hire day laborers with the intention of not paying them at all. While working with the Day Labor Center in 2007, he tried to organize the workers and keep track of who was hiring them in order to hold those who hire day laborers accountable.

The Unity Labor Project, a project set up through the Economic Justice Coalition, also tries to help day laborers find more consistent work and a reliable paycheck.

The organization advertises home repair services throughout the community by posting flyers in neighborhoods and networking through churches.

The nonprofit finds temporary work for an average of 10 people a week, said James Walker, a volunteer who manages Unity's workers. Walker said Unity's clients have been happy with the work overall and he expects to find more work for people as Unity's reputation grows.

Still waiting for work that doesn't come, Luis said he's lucky because he doesn't have a family and can move around more easily. Some of the day laborers say there are construction jobs in Virginia, while others are thinking about trying their luck in Atlanta's tougher job market.

Men who have families in Athens say they will weather the storm, keep looking for work and rely upon their neighbors for help.

"When times get hard, people tend to come together in the Hispanic community around here," Stanojevich said. "There's a lot of strong support networks in the area."

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