July-August 2005

Chicago 'Tour of Shame' highlights abuses faced  by area day laborers

San Lucas Worker Center leader speaks during press conference held at the end of a tour that organizers said included firms that use abusive day labor agencies.

CHICAGO – The San Lucas Workers Center, day laborers and community allies sponsored a “Tour of Shame” and press conference Aug. 31 to denounce mistreatment of day laborers. The targets of the actions were corporations that sell products made by day laborers. By the end of the tour, two of three targeted companies agreed to meetings or discussions about treatment of day laborers.

San Lucas leaders want companies that have contracts with day labor agencies to force the agencies to treat workers fairly. They also want the companies to fire abusive agencies and use agencies that abide by a “Community Code of Conduct.” The code was created by workers and commits companies to fair treatment and full payment for any work.“You don’t have to go halfway around the world to see sweatshop labor conditions, it’s happening right here in Chicago. It’s about time these companies are held accountable for how day labor workers are employed in these abusive conditions,” said Randy Smith, a day laborer and president of the San Lucas Workers Center.

The tour kicked off at 9:30 a.m. from the north side offices of the San Lucas Worker Center, with several media outlets in tow, and stopped at three downtown locations, Chas Levy Circulating Co., H2O+ and Paper Source. Day laborers work in warehouses and handle some distribution and packaging for the companies. The tour ended with a street corner press conference in the Loop.

Worker protests against day labor agency.

Father Michael Herman, of St. Sylvester’s Parish; and workers Sonia Zamora, who formerly worked for Ron’s Staffing, which was one of the abusive companies, Kevin Anderson, who works for Elite Staffing; and State Senator Miguel del Valle spoke at the press conference. Two current Ron’s workers, who remained anonymous to protect their jobs, also spoke at the press conference. One of the biggest complaints was that Ron’s dispatchers hire pretty young women first for jobs and bypasses others.

“People joined us while we were marching down the street to Paper Source and joined us inside. They joined our chants and stayed for a long time to support the workers,” said Ari Glazer, director of San Lucas Worker Center.

Chas Levy and PaperSource agreed to meetings to talk about the concerns of workers. San Lucas plans to continue to pressure H2O+ for an initial meeting.

Short paychecks, illegal transportation charges, retaliation for organizing or complaining, discrimination, no job security, no opportunity to go from temp to permanent jobs and bullying by supervisors are some of the challenges these workers face daily.

State Sen. Miguel del Valle talks about state law that makes it illegal to intimidate day laborers, withhold their wages or levy transportation charges.

State Senator Miguel del Valle, of Chicago, talked about the “Day Labor Services Act law,” effective January 1, 2006. The law makes it illegal to charge workers for transportation, retaliate against workers who stand up for their rights and requires companies to only contract with state-licensed agencies. These companies need to use agencies that follow state law, said the legislator.

Day labor agency workers are a diverse group stuck in low-wage jobs – they get hired and fired every day. “We work hard for these companies, we deserve to work for an agency that will treat us with respect and follow the law,” said Javier Franco, a day laborer and San Lucas leader. The San Lucas Workers Center is the first worker-run campaign to pressure owners of prominent companies in Chicago to use “Code of Conduct” compliant day labor agencies. The center fights sweatshop abuses by Chicago day labor agencies and their client companies. The center is a bi-lingual, multi-racial committee of immigrant and U.S.-born workers who are organizing to end abuses by city day labor agencies.