San Gabriel Valley : Day Laborer Site Draws Ire of Unions

Now scattered each morning along Villa Street, Pasadena day laborers long have searched for a permanent hiring site.

Recently, they thought they had found one at 200 E. Corson St. The owner was willing to lease the site to them for just $1 per year, and it was far enough from homes where neighbors would not complain about the daily loitering at street corners.

But there was a problem: the vacant lot is sandwiched between the offices of two unions, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Operating Engineers Local 12.

Last month, the operating engineers won a temporary restraining order against the day laborers, on the grounds that their hiring practices are a “charitable activity” that requires a special permit. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge in Pasadena is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday on granting a permanent injunction.

“The specter of men standing in groups and begging for work is intolerable to us,” said Michael McGrorty, compliance officer for the IBEW. “It would promote the sort of illegal activities we are fighting against every day.”

If the day laborers win, McGrorty has threatened to send teams of union officials to the hiring site. There, they would press employers to pay Social Security taxes, show proof of business licenses and pay overtime. Workers would have to show that they are paying state and federal income taxes.

“Workers are hired for two or three days,” said Pablo Alvarado, who helped form the Day Laborers Assn. of Pasadena last year. Treating the workers as regular employees “is not realistic.”

The new site would be on one lot and include a canopy to protect workers from the sun. From a trailer, an administrator would start a more organized system of hiring.

“The idea of this site is to make the process of soliciting employment more humane and more dignified,” Alvarado said. “It’s going to solve all of these problems, all of them.”