Thread: Shutdown at Glendale, CA Day Labor Center 2/25/06

hey guys, I just wanted to share this news story I found on the Glendale newspaper online, which was the top story.. You can view videos and more commentary of the days events in the Pictures/video thread called "New Videos from TheWatchDog"... excellent work

http://www.glendalenewspress.com/front/ ... 8326c.html

Great Story. Please post full text here.....

Protesters force center shutdown
Pressure group Save Our State confront man at day labor center, force it to close briefly.
By Fred Ortega, News-Press and Leader


Men wait for work at the Temporary Skilled Worker Center on San Fernando Road across from Glendale’s Home Depot.


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SOUTHWEST GLENDALE -- A small protest by the group Save Our State forced the brief shutdown of the city's day labor center on San Fernando Road Saturday, after protesters entered the center to confront a prospective employer.

An official at the center closed the gates for at least 15 minutes at about 11 a.m. after Save Our State representative Don Silva and another group member equipped with a video camera walked onto the property and asked a patron not to pick up any of the day laborers. The individual, who did not identify himself, left without hiring anybody after Silva gave him the address of a business that hires out only documented laborers.

"The gates were only closed for a few minutes," said Juan Rodriguez, who manages the center on behalf of Catholic Charities. "We are contracted to run these centers and they are interrupting our contracting duties."

It was the first time that Catholic Charities had decided to close the gates of the Glendale center as a result of a protest, said Jess Duran of the city's Community Development and Housing Department.

"They closed it because there wasn't enough coordination with the Police Department to have the patrols that Catholic Charities felt they needed to have" in order to prevent the protesters from entering the property, Duran said.

There were more than 50 people in the center seeking work at the time of the closure. But even before the doors were closed, no one had stopped to hire any workers while the Save Our State protesters were in front of the center. They wielded signs reading "Illegal Aliens are Terrorists" and waved American flags as they urged passing drivers not to pick up the workers, many of whom, they claimed, are undocumented.

The protesters, who typically set up in front of the Glendale or Burbank day labor centers once or twice a weekend, have an effect on business, said day laborer Victor Romero.

"When they see employers coming they stop them and they scare them away," Romero said. "They are only here for a little while, but while they are here they drive away a lot of people. If they were here all day we wouldn't have any work.

"We just want them to at least stay outside the fence and leave us alone," he added.

The protesters have no right to actually enter the day labor center and disrupt business, said City Atty. Scott Howard.

But the fact that the property is owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and leased by the city complicates the enforcement of trespassing laws, he said, and he acknowledged that there are issues of the protesters' free speech rights that must be considered.

"But this is not going to happen much longer, and we are looking to develop some guidelines for Catholic Charities as far as what we can or cannot do to assist them in keeping the protesters out," Howard said.

"Even in labor disputes like a supermarket strike, you can't have people inside the supermarket disrupting business. They can picket outside, with signs."

But Silva of Save Our State said that since the land the center is located on is leased by the city, he and his supporters have a right to enter freely.

"California law says you cannot post a no-trespassing sign in a public access area, so I don't think they have a leg to stand on," he said.

As for Saturday's disruption of business at the center, even if it was only for a few minutes, Silva was elated.

"We think we are taking the right approach here," he said.

"We are a group of people that are very frustrated with the total breakdown of our laws, and we are reacting to this. It is a very American thing to do."

* FRED ORTEGA covers City Hall. He may be reached at (81 637-3235 or by e-mail at fred.ortega@latimes.com.

https://www.alipac.us/ftopict-18041.html

If you haven't already, you should go and watch the videos. These guys are very good at what they're doing.