Day Labor and Looking For Work Out of Doors in the Main Stem
Cities continue to be stymied in their efforts to control where day laborers seek work. Southhampton Village, New York recently built a circular driveway in a public park so that employers could have a place to pick up workers without leaving their vehicles and without slowing traffic on the street. But neighbors sued, claiming that to use a park for anything but recreation was unlawful. The court agreed, forcing the city to go back to square one.
On the other coast, Baldwin Park, a Los Angeles suburb, barred day laborers from soliciting work in parking lots and sidewalks unless they left a 3-foot buffer for pedestrians. But the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, "MALDEF," a public interest organization, sued on behalf of the laborers. In granting a temporary restraining order against the city, the court found that the ordinance violated the First Amendment, which bars government discrimination against certain kinds of speech (here commercial speech) absent a compelling government interest. The news reports are a little unclear, but it appears that the 3-foot buffer amounted to a de facto ban on soliciation from the sidewalks of the city.
Rather than appeal, the city settled the case and considered a new tack: an ordinance that would essentially limit commercial parking lots-- such as those at Home Depot where day laborers congregated-- to use for parking cars and providing access to structures. But this measure failed to get the votes needed from Baldwin Park's city council when it was presented this week. What will it try now?
The construction slowdown nothwithstanding, there will continue to be a need for unskilled and low skilled labor on short-term projects. Hiring day laborers from out-door locations like sidewalks would seem to be a good way to minimize costs. Eighty years ago, during the heyday of the hobo, there was also high demand for day labor, and they had a place to go. Before it became known as "Skid Row," many cities had a "Main Stem." This was a neighborhood that catered to workers who went from job to job with great frequency. Day laborers seeking work were welcome there. Employment agencies-- public and private -- set up shop there. They would advertise jobs in their windows. Photos from that time show laborers standing or walking on the sidewalk reading the ads. When they wanted a job in particular, they'd go inside the agency, get hired, and take transportation to the job site. Often this was by train, which was the preferred mode of long distance transportation in those days. Not coincidentally, the Main Stem was usually close to the train station.
Today the hobo's successor is the day laborer. He likewise seeks to use the sidewalk or some other public space as a way to find work. But the advent of the automobile has turned him around. Rather than face a storefront window reading an ad, today's day laborer faces the street. News of work and transportation come by car or truck. The day laborer will go where they are-- streets, parking lots, or a circular driveway in a public park. Those are the doorways to work. Is it time for cities to accept this and bring back the Main Stem?