Thread: day laborers in S.J. surges as housing work dries up

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Number of day laborers in S.J. surges as housing work dries up


By Jennie Rodriguez
April 07, 2008
Record Staff Writer
STOCKTON - Marselo Martin used to have a regular construction job and an apartment.

That was awhile ago. Now homeless, he does side jobs - anything to send money to his family.

"Today I work. Tomorrow I might not," said Martin, 38.

The housing boom made construction one of San Joaquin County's fastest-growing industries from 2002 to 2005, according to a 2006 California Employment Development Department report.

It's a different story now. The residential building halt and mounting foreclosure crisis, the latter of which has displaced many San Joaquin County families, also have left a shortage of work for Martin and other laborers who once built and landscaped those homes.

A number of those workers - mainly the undocumented portion - head every day to Stockton's Gateway Plaza to solicit jobs. The workers historically gathered on the block at the bottom of the El Dorado Street exit from the Crosstown Freeway to solicit daily jobs.

Several years ago, a city-backed rehabilitation project dubbed the block Stockton's gateway and landed a gas station and fast-food restaurant there. Despite the revitalization effort, the workers remain.

The number of day laborers is swelling nationwide as a result of layoffs from the dipping economy, said Pablo Alvarado, a spokesman for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network in Los Angeles.

Nationally, nearly 80 percent of immigrant workers in construction are Latino, according to a 2004 U.S. Census Bureau survey.

The surge in day laborers soliciting at Stockton's Gateway Plaza concerns property owners, who are frustrated that the city hasn't followed through yet with its plan to build a day labor center.

A center prototype has been designed, but city officials haven't secured a site or taken it to the City Council for approval.

As many as 100 men wait for work every day in front of the plaza's Unocal 76 gas station, as police intermittently survey the area for loitering.

"These guys aren't the problem, but the sheer number of them is a problem," said Daniel Dixon, one of the plaza's owners.

Dixon said patrons are put off by the crowd of men, and he worries about the effect on his business.

Increased competition among workers is also a problem for the laborers.

For every employer that pulls up, five to 10 men rush to the vehicle, but only a few are chosen. By the end of the day, most are left behind.

Without steady income, many head to St. Mary's Interfaith Dining Room to eat and possibly spend the night.

"The more unemployment we have, the more people we have that put a strain on resources. That's why it would be more beneficial to have (a day laborer center) in place," said Dennis Smallie, an assistant to Mayor Ed Chavez. Smallie is spearheading the labor center project.

A labor center also would eliminate the risk of being ticketed for loitering and protect the men from unscrupulous employers. Jorge De La Cruz, 33, said recently a contractor refused to pay him for a week's worth of labor, amounting to $440. The center would have someone on site to deal with labor disputes, officials say.

Meanwhile, Martin spends many nights sleeping under the downtown freeways when there's no room in local shelters.

His only worry is finding his next job and sending money home, Martin said, as he sat on a patch of dirt and fallen leaves rolling a cigarette with tobacco and rolling papers. Any sound was drowned out by the roar of passing vehicles. The spot, on a slope just yards from the Crosstown Freeway, was surrounded by weeds, and it was his bed for the night.

"Right now, there's no work here. It's almost as bad as Mexico," he said.

Contact reporter Jennie Rodriguez at (209) 943-8564 or jrodriguez@recordnet.com.
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"Right now, there's no work here. It's almost as bad as Mexico," he said.

Not yet, but it's getting there.