Day Labor Center First to Join AFL-CIO [View All]

Source: Associated Press

Associated Press 06.28.07, 6:35 PM ET

A center representing immigrant workers who do temporary jobs announced its affiliation with the AFL-CIO Thursday, becoming the first day labor center to act on an agreement between the largest U.S. federation of unions and a network representing immigrant laborers.

The Centro Legal de la Raza hopes the association with the AFL-CIO's Alameda County Central Labor Council will help improve working conditions for the immigrant workers it represents. Like other day laborers who solicit jobs by standing on corners and waiting for employers to pick them up, these workers often have little recourse when an employer refuses to pay or expects them to work under dangerous conditions.

"This could be a first step in unionizing day laborers," said Patricia Loya, the center's executive director. "We see our values as being very much in line with organized labor."

Under the deal signed last year in Chicago between the AFL-CIO and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which represents 40 worker centers, the day laborers would not become union members for now.



Read more: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/06/28/ap3869472.html

---