Thread: Carrboro, NC: New Day Labor Site coming?

Job center could solve day laborer problem

By Charles Thompson Jr.
Latino workers on the Carrboro corner are searching for day jobs, weekly jobs, anything they can get (Chapel Hill News "Problems at Carrboro corner," 7/29/2007). They run up to trucks and cars that stop and compete with one another for the drivers' attention. Those who fail to get work sit and pass the time as best they can, some drinking beer as the day and the heat wear on.

Day labor is hard and often depressing because it is never dependable. It's even harder when some of those hired are shafted. There is a promise of pay at the end of the week and the boss just doesn't come back. Their desperation works to the benefit of the unscrupulous employers. Their competition with one another means they're willing to jump into the back of a pickup before they know anything about the work. Their language barrier means they often can't ask for details.

Passersby watch as the workers wait all hours hoping for the next truck to stop and offer a landscaping job. The trash piles up where workers wait. No one really thinks this pattern is good, least of all the workers themselves. I don't know any day laborer, and I have talked with many, who really prefers waiting all day on the street corner, whether drinking beer or not. They want work -- a steady job regardless of how hard it is.

I have a proposal for Carrboro and Chapel Hill based on Jupiter, Fla. In Jupiter, there is a labor center called El Sol where I have been making a film. El Sol, using dozens of volunteers, provides a place for workers to wait and a system for registering workers and laborers. Those hiring workers must give their names, contact information, and rate of pay. A lottery system helps make the selection of workers fair. The local police provide protection. Local churches provide refreshments and direct services. Medical clinics provide health screenings. Students provide English classes. Workers sit inside where they are safe and away from traffic. If they are drinking, they are turned away. Workers themselves take turns patrolling the grounds making sure no one jumps into trucks and offers their labor at a discount. Those who patrol or mop floors are offered jobs first the following day. Employers get to give feedback to workers through interpreters. If there is a work problem, there is mediation.

Jupiter's street corners where workers once waited have been cleaned up and most every day laborer in town participates in El Sol, particularly because the police patrol and pick up those on the streets and take them to El Sol, where they must register. Workers sit in an air-conditioned building and take classes or watch television while waiting for jobs. The Center creates special work identification cards. Because of the commitment of so many, the Center seems to be working. There are other successful centers around the country. Why not here?

Rather than pit those who want a clean community against the advocates for new immigrants, Carrboro and Chapel Hill can do better. We can find a building to house our own labor center. I believe there is funding out there and dozens of retirees and students willing to do their part. We have members of religious communities surely willing to help. We have a large number of people who would hire day laborers if they knew the workers were screened and their work instructions translated for them. I propose that we start a Chapel Hill/Carrboro Labor Center and volunteer to do my part. Anyone interested is welcome to e-mail me at cdthomps@duke.edu


Charles D. Thompson Jr., Ph.D., lives in Chapel Hill and teaches at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.

http://www.chapelhillnews.com/opinion/story/8855.html

Dr. Charles D., it seems clear to me that you are attempting to bring the "sanctuary city" mentailty from your precious Duke University campus and city to the otherwise peaceful and beautiful town of Carboro, and I for one would have none of it were I a resident of Carboro. Academics tend to base their opinions and statements of fact on their own very personal view, while gazing down on the working class masses from their lofty perch among the branches of the publicly funded tree of tenure. I say from my position as "man on the street" that your idea is fruitless and without merit! Fly off somewhere else sir and drop your calling cards there! What is there about 'Illegal" that you do not understand?
Legitimizing the problem instead of solving it is not a solution, but another stumbling block to prosperity for us all. Take this message back to campus with you, and share it with your esteemed colleagues; Secure the Border- Enforce the Laws! There was a time in America when education meant something other than a paycheck....Do you remember those days?

We need to tell him that is all fine and dandy as long as the workers are LEGAL and have documents, otherwise, "go pound sand" and take your "collectivitism" marxists ideas somewhere else!

Welcome to Carborro, where anything is possible if you're illegal:

Town's voting idea gets mixed reviews
Proposal extends right to noncitizens

By: Eric Shepherd Martin, Staff WriterIssue date: 5/25/06 Section: CityPrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 2 next > The Carrboro Board of

Aldermen received varied reactions from local lawmakers when an alderman suggested that steps be taken to give local noncitizens the right to vote.

In a May 12 meeting between the aldermen and Orange County's legislative delegation, alderman John Herrera, a native of Costa Rica, asked attending lawmakers to work to give legal immigrants in Carrboro the right to participate in municipal elections.

"We want to allow the legal permanent residents - these are people who pay taxes, these are people who fight for the military - the right to vote," Herrera said.

Alderman Dan Coleman wrote in a letter to local lawmakers that they should understand that "this initiative comes from our entire board as a means to further social justice, civic participation, and inclusion in Carrboro."

Such an initiative might have difficulty becoming a reality, however, as it would require that North Carolina amend its state constitution, Town Attorney Mike Brough said.

Brough said he believed it would be possible to make the amendment specific to Carrboro, rather than affecting the state as a whole, but that it couldn't really be considered until next year.

The state legislature decides on most of its proposed bills at a long session, the next of which will be held in January.

Herrera said he thought allowing immigrants to vote could also boost municipal elections' "dismal" voter turnout rates.

Lawmakers present at the meeting included state Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, who also is a former mayor of Carrboro, and representatives Joe Hackney and Verla Insko, both Democrats from Orange County. All the lawmakers agreed that the meeting was an awkward time to bring up a controversial issue.

Kinnaird said she would like to see Carrboro noncitizens given the opportunity to vote but thought nothing would come of the request until "maybe ten years from now."

Other lawmakers were less receptive.

"The people of North Carolina are not going to amend (the constitution) to allow noncitizens to vote," Hackney said, adding that he thought such an amendment would have zero chance of passing Mayor Mark Chilton said that while the request to bring the amendment to the N.C. General Assembly received a negative reaction from some, others found the idea "very thought provoking."

Noncitizen voting is not a new idea, Herrera said, as 40 countries worldwide have granted noncitizens the right to vote in just the last 10 years.

Ron Hayduk, co-director of the Immigrant Voting Project advocacy group and author of the book "Democracy for All," said legal immigrants in six Maryland towns also have been granted the right to vote, and New York City is looking to do the same.

Hayduk suggested that Carrboro look to San Francisco as a model, as the city faced a similar debate before granting its noncitizens the right to vote in school board elections.

Hayduk said that despite lawmakers' reservations, Carrboro has a chance to put the proposal in motion.

"It might be possible for it to happen sooner than they think," he said.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.

http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media ... 3772.shtml

Given the current procedures for voter registration and the lack of serious efforts to authenticate the identity of those registered, you can bet that many illegal residents are already voting. Because the United States does not permit dual citizenship, legal immigrants are effectively hamstrung when it comes to voting unless they consider it worth forfeiting citizenship of their country of origin and becoming U.S. citizens. It's not like they don't have a choice, and that option is certainly open to all who desire to vote and participate in government decisions. That is exactly as it should be, regardless of one's status as a "taxpayer".

I will remind everyone that taxes are (presumably) collected to pay for services provided in the public interest and available to everyone living here, regardless of nationality. It is not unreasonable therefor, for a permanent legal resident to be required to pay their fair share. Status as a "guest" of our government and it's people does not equate to a free ride or a free lunch. The time period for application and receipt of U.S. citizenship while lengthy is not unreasonable, and anyone desiring input in changing our laws should understand the laws which govern us by neccessity must originate from and be determined by U.S. citizens.

Carboro's Alderman Herrera is well aware of each of these facts if he indeed is a native of Costa Rica, as in order to hold public office in the U.S. he is required to be a naturalized U.S. citizen. Maybe he should reflect on his oath of citizenship before propogating ideas that undermine the stability of the Rebublic?

I have posted this viewpoint at the paper's webpage (linked above) where this ill-conceived proposal originated and I encourage everyone else to do likewise.

Aiding and abetting.

Noncitizen voting is not a new idea, Herrera said, as 40 countries worldwide have granted noncitizens the right to vote in just the last 10 years.

Have you taken a look at those countries? Ever wonder why they are corrupt?

These people are NUTS!