Day labor (or day labour in Commonwealth spelling) is work done where the worker is hired and paid one day at a time, with no promise that more work will be available in the future, and outside the protection of labor and civil rights laws. It is a form of contingent work.

Types

Day

laborer A laborer ( or labourer) is a person who works in manual labor typed within the construction industry. There is a generic factory laborer which is defined separately as a factory worker. Laborers are in a working class of wage-earners in whic ...

s (also known archaically as ''daysmen'' ) find work through several common routes. Some employment agencies specialize in very short-term contracts for manual labor, primarily in construction, factories, offices, and manufacturing. These companies usually have offices where workers can arrive and be immediately assigned to a job. Unions are a second route through which workers find employment. In situations such as an unexpected change in construction plans, an employer may require additional appropriately skilled labor. By contacting a workers' union, the manager can find laborers with appropriate skills. In turn, the union workers have a higher chance of being employed since the manager is able to find workers to employ. Thus, the benefit of union representation applies to both the worker and the employer. Through the union, workers are given a source of recourse to achieve a safe work environment free of favoritism and arbitrary work assignments. Employers benefit from organized labor training programs, benefit plans, dispute resolution and a labor supply meeting labor demand at many times or places. A labor supply arriving at a specified time and location with less than a day's notice results in reduced overhead resources, which benefits the employer. Less formally, workers offer their work to potential employers such as building contractors, landscapers, home owners, and small business owners. Workers assemble at well-known locations, such as street corners or commercial parking lots, in the hope of finding such work.

Day labor in the United States

Informal day labor is not new to the United States, and day laborers are not always

migrant workers A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...

in many cases. In his study of day laborers in

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, Terry Easton interviews

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, and

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

workers. Many other metropolitan areas still have non-immigrant day laborers, and many other large and small cities have immigrant day laborers from a variety of countries, including

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Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

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, Central and South America, and countries in

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. Non-immigrant informal day labor, present in many cities, does not generate the controversy or calls to police and local government seen when immigrant day laborers gather to wait for work. The day labor workforce in the United States in overwhelmingly male (98%) and predominantly Latino. According t
survey data by UCLA
59% of day laborers were born in Mexico, 14% in Guatemala, and 8% in Honduras. Approximately 75% of these workers are undocumented, though 11% have pending legal status claims. Nonetheless, immigrants are a large source of day labor in the United States. Often, day labor work is in small residential

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

or landscaping. These workers earn, on average, $8–$10 an hour. The media and a 2005 study by

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

portrays day laborers as mostly being illegal immigrants from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, who would otherwise be unable to work due to employment regulations. Other research has found that day laborers are not typically illegal immigrants. Many are citizens of the US, and day labor is often a transition to full-time work. Unorganized day labor creates problems for day laborers: 1 in 3 corner day laborers have experienced theft of wages in the past two months and 1 in 5 experienced a serious worksite injury in the past year. Low wages and poor working conditions, employer abuse, and lack of insurance for work related accidents is common. In addition to wage theft, day laborers frequently report encountering unsafe working conditions without training, protective gear or access to medical care. A study by the National Lawyers Guild's Labor and Employment committee found that many workers fear retaliation or immigration consequences if they report injuries or unsafe conditions. Some municipalities and communities have supported workers' efforts to organize themselves into democratically run workers' centers, designated areas, and

organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences) is an legal entity, entity—such as ...

s to defend

workers' rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, ...

in general. Workers' Centers of this kind date back at least 18 years to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Other municipalities have targeted day labor sites for aggressive enforcement of immigration laws. Though united in their commitment to the rights of immigrant workers, NDLON and the Day Labor Research Institute represent different models of day labor center. NDLON represents the "social service agency model" and the Institute the "day laborer designed model." These different models of day labor centers may yield markedly different results that reflect the different goals of each model. Problems when workers' centers are established can involve day laborers continuing to congregate in large numbers on the streets surrounding the day labor centers, refusing to leave the street to use the center, and large numbers of day laborers drawn from other areas to the streets surrounding the centers. Low levels of work at the centers, low wages, and problems with the job distribution system are also common. Day laborers in the United States have also played a critical role in disaster responses and recovery work, assisting with debris removal, rebuilding homes, and cleaning up hazardous waste after events like wildfires and hurricanes. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, most day laborers continued working frontlines without access to protective gear, paid leave, or healthcare, highlighting their vulnerability. Immigration policies in the US significantly impact day laborers in the US, many of whom are undocumented and vulnerable to exploitation. Fear of deportation can deter workers from reporting wage theft or unsafe working conditions. Additionally immigration enforcement actions near hiring sites have been known to disrupt workers ability to find employment and contribute, duties to fear and instability within the work force.

References

External links

Organizations

Casa Latina

Issue Lab: Day Labor

Day Labor Research Institute

In film and television

PBS The Workers documentary

PBS Farmingville documentary

Day Labor, a short comedy satirizing corporate America through the experience of two laborers
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Day Labor Labor Precarious work Employment classifications