Past Issues :: 2007 May 1 :: Cover Story
Una VOZ
Romeo Sosa speaks on behalf of day laborers seeking a haven on the city’s east side
Day laborers in inner Southeast are experiencing pressure from police and business owners to move out of the inner eastside without many alternatives. VOZ (which means voice in Spanish), the worker’s rights education project, and day laborers are working to create face-to-face dialogues with the community. The first meeting was scheduled for May 27. We got the chance to set down with VOZ director
Romeo Sosa to talk about what’s happening with day laborers
in Portland.
Street Roots: How is the relationship with the day laborers and the business community on the eastside (Central Eastside Industrial Council)?
Romeo Sosa: We will be having our first meeting face to face with day laborers and local businesses. I’ve been to meetings with business owners and the police, and then I meet with day laborers and tell them what’s going on. Sometimes they believe me and sometimes they don’t. It will be good to hear from them (business owners) directly and talk. We want to be able to come up with some agreements and solutions.
Although, I think they (business owners) have a different solution. They want to get rid of the day laborers as soon as possible. I don’t think they want to have much of a dialogue.
Day laborers have been here for years and some think it’s time to go to a different neighborhood. They also say their customers are scared because they see a bunch of people hanging around. They’ve used the example of having women stopped at a stop sign and immediately being surrounded by day laborers. That’s something that can be true. Still, they need to understand the reality of the other side. People need money for the day. People are looking for work, and as soon as you see someone stopped there, it’s like a competition between workers because there are immediate needs. Workers are not out there to get money to go see a movie; it’s to feed their families. When you have a family to feed, you can’t wait on work. Sometimes people don’t see that.
S.R.: There’s a myth downtown projected by the business community that homeless people are bad for business. Do you feel like that’s a myth that exists on the east side?
Sosa: That’s the same myth. Owners think that because workers are close to their places of business the value of their property goes down. It’s a stereotype. They think all the workers are undocumented or they are all drunks and that they are all criminals. We have to stop this mentality of thinking. For example, drugs are everywhere in the city — it’s a problem for us, too. We want the drugs gone as much as anyone.
S.R.: Do you have a relationship with the city?
Sosa: The city approved some money for a day laborers center and we are working with them on how to get the center as soon as possible. It’s already been approved. The only thing is they (the city) don’t have time. If the city doesn’t hurry up, the consequences will be arresting the day laborers because the businesses and police don’t want to wait. We are looking at having the center in two possible places — one at St. Francis and the other on Martin Luther King Boulevard, close to I-84.
S.R.: What will having an access center do for day laborers?
Sosa: That’s the best option because people can be inside and it will be more orderly. We will need to promote the day labor center so we will have employers stopping by the center. It’s not a solution. A center is not a solution to the poverty, unemployment, exploitation — and there’s no guarantee that people will come inside. The business community promotes the idea like everyone will go to the center, but not everyone goes inside. We have relationships with the day laborers in Seattle, New York, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, and we know how the day laborer centers work. It’s not a solution. It’s an option. People are still going to wait outside for work.
S.R.: What are some of the solutions available?
Sosa: We want to be treated the same as any worker with rights and responsibilities. The solution of immigration will never be solved the way we are looking at it. It’s a thousand-year-old process. You are not born in one place and have to stay in that place. Many of the immigrants that are here have been forced to come because the extreme poverty created through free-trade agreements. It’s up to Americans — if you go to restaurants, hotels, the fields, construction, most of them are Latinos working. We need each other. Solutions should not be framed in the small picture like a day labor center.
Nobody wants to be a day laborer. I did not come to America thinking I want to be a day laborer. Before you come to the U.S., you hear that everything is so sophisticated from computers to the toilets, but when you come and see the reality, it’s very different. Anybody can go to the corner to find work. While the majority of workers on the corners are Latino, they are not all Latinos. The corner is not closed to everyone. We are workers and we want to feed our families.
S.R.: How is the Latino and immigrant community driving economic development in Portland?
Sosa: We contribute to the community, especially the undocumented workers. A lot of people think we are not paying taxes and taking jobs, but 150,000 workers in Oregon work in the service industry, in the fields and more. They don’t get those taxes back, but they are paying taxes. Undocumented workers are getting the federal and state taxes taken from their checks. Where does that money go? It’s going to social services, hospitals and other services all Oregonians use.
The undocumented workers are living in the shadows. They’re suffering. They’re not getting paid a fair wage. We need to get paid a fair wage. Sometimes employers will threatened undocumented workers and use that as an excuse not to pay them. This kind of abuse happens all the time.
S.R.: What’s a fair-wage to pay a day laborer in Portland?
Sosa: Among the workers, they decided to have a $10 wage across the board. They work collectively. Some people offer $4 or $5 an hour and people say no way — $10 an hour. It sounds like a lot but if you only work two days in a week it’s not a lot.
S.R.: Are people more afraid today than in the past?
Sosa: It’s not OK when politicians connect immigration with terrorism. Definitely after 9/11, immigrants’ lives have became more difficult. At the same time, the people who are suffering are not afraid anymore. One of these examples was what happened last year when people marched in masses all over the country. We wanted to send a message that immigrants are a big part of the economy. It was also to get local, national and international attention. People from all over the world heard our cries for justice.
After the government saw this big movement, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) felt the pressure. Raids started happening all over the country. They’re happening now. There was a raid last week in Portland, and they arrested some people.
S.R.: Does local government step in and try to stop raids from happening?
Sosa: They don’t know when the raids are going to happen, so they can’t do anything about it.
S.R.: What messages can Portlanders be sending elected officials to support the day labor and immigrant communities?
Sosa: It’s very important to understand the roots of immigration. To send an army to the border or arrest people is not OK. The thing we want is a fair immigration. People that are already working here should be granted a permit to work and an option to be a citizen. Most immigrants have families back home, and they may not want to stay. But it’s harder and harder to get back and forth. Americans can go anywhere in the world. Poor people have to come up with other options. It’s not fair that someone has to die in a desert to feed their family. There’s a fair way to solve the immigration issue, but politicians are not thinking on these terms. They are thinking of their political careers, not poor people. We need to hold them accountable.
S.R.: Is there anything you would like to say to the Street Roots readers?
Sosa: We are talking about a very complex issue. People are trying to survive. This country is made of immigrants. We are not asking for better treatment, just fair treatment. Laws are getting worse for day laborers because they are in the public and they are easy to target. Community members in Portland should offer jobs for day laborers. Hire day laborers for a fair wage.
