Shocking News! Day Laborers are Poor

Study touts day labor centers
Findings might have some effect in Austin debate.
By Asher Price
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

A nationwide day labor study released Monday suggests that cities should invest in worker centers because they can "improve conditions dramatically in the day labor market."

The study's findings come at a time when Austin is grappling with day labor issues. Some worker advocates who support Austin's center have asked the city to build bathrooms and water fountains and provide some shade at several informal hiring spots across the city; the city has resisted, saying it wants to encourage workers to use its center instead.

Based on surveys of 2,660 day laborers in 20 states and 264 hiring sites, including a couple in Austin, the authors determined that only one in five day laborers searches for work at day-labor worker centers.

Day laborers are often exposed to poor working conditions, lack safety training and are frequently insulted or even physically abused by their employers. Nearly half of all day laborers had been denied payment for their work, the study found.

"Day labor is characterized by rampant violations of labor standards, particularly when hiring is arranged through the types of informal and unregulated sites that have proliferated in recent years," the study's authors wrote.

Day labor centers often work to monitor labor standards, employer behavior and worker quality, according to the authors.

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