City May Subsidize Day Labor Centers

Day laborers many of them immigrants, gathering on street corners in business districts seeking day jobs have aroused antipathy in some quarters. The street corner meeting places, however, may be replaced by subsidized job centers under a plan before a New York City panel.

Guillermo Linares, the mayor's commissioner of immigrant affairs is the panel chairman. The panel's goal is to look into both the job centers and subsidizing them.

Linares, whose panel just completed its first hearing on the question, stated, "As the demand for day laborers continues in New York City, we must address the issues that arise, including day laborers' need for safe and healthy work conditions.

"To address these issues, other jurisdictions have created daylabor job centers with public and private support. For the past 10 years, cities throughout our nation have found these centers to be viable long-term solutions."

The centers would bring some control and regulation to what is now an unorganized gathering of job seekers. Some laborers, for example, now gather in front of a paint store where paint contractors or those in private business come to pick up paint and supplies. The workers, knowing this, come there too to meet the employers.

The gatherings, whether unregulated or happening in a government subsidized center, have drawn opposition on grounds that they foster more illegal operation.

The centers generally co-ordinate job assignments, help to inform workers of their rights and advise them how to file complaints and lawsuits if there is a need.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants the federal government to set up a database to verify the immigration status of job applicants. This would also be the basis for dealing with businesses who fail to check the database, leaving them open to fines and other penalties. He has also called for giving some 11 million illegal immigrants permanent status.

-John Toscano