Day laborers in South Los Angeles

Carlos Joiel, Santo Guzman Flores and Humberto Jauregui were among the men still waiting at the end of the day. 

"We never know when we will work and when we will just wait," Jauregui said. "Sometimes there are 50 people waiting and only four will get work.  You stay here all day long and you don’t find anything."

The slowing economy has greatly impacted laborers who used to rely on construction, landscaping and home improvement jobs. Since construction is slow the men go to The Home Depot to find work instead. 

Jauregui, 25, graduated from high school in Mexico and said he wants to go back to school so he can get his GED in the U.S.  He was the only one of the three men who spoke English fluently.  He has been working as a day laborer since he lost his job as an auto mechanic five months ago.  

Every day, the men wait from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. On average, they work one or two days each week, making a total of $160. 

Abel Valenzuela Jr., UCLA professor and director of the University’s Center for the Study of Urban Poverty, said the number of day laborers in South Los Angeles and Los Angeles County is about the same.  He said the steady increase in day laborers coupled with the steady decrease in employment has made the job outlook grim.  

"We are seeing many more unemployed workers looking for work along with the regular day laborers who have been doing this for a long time," he said. "There has also been an increase in non-immigrants looking for work as day laborers."

Pablo Alvarado, executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, a company that organizes day laborers to protect their civil, labor and political rights said the economic downturn and housing crisis have been devastating for day laborers. 

"Fifty percent of the employers who hire day laborers are homeowners, 43 percent are construction businesses and the other 7 percent are restaurants and small factories," he said. "Now with the housing and mortgage crisis a lot of the employers have either lost their homes or are no longer investing in remodeling their homes so that means they are not going to the corner to get day laborers." 

Alvarado estimated there are between 110 and 120 day labor locations and at least 35,000 people who work as day laborers in Los Angeles County including South Los Angeles. 

The number of day laborers across Los Angeles is increasing as sub-contractors and contractors who once employed day laborers have been forced to wait with them for work according to Alvarado.

"The employers themselves are now coming to look for work on the corner with the day laborers," Alvarado said. "These are people who didn’t look for work before, they were the ones hiring day laborers, but because of the economic downturn they have been forced to wait on the corner for work." 

The recession has forced many people to stop supporting their local businesses.  In turn, this has created a decrease in available jobs for day laborers.  Alvarado said the restaurant business used to hire a good number of day laborers but now that people are not going out to eat, the restaurants don’t have enough money to hire the extra help.