The New York metropolitan area is home 6,000-8,000 day laborers, this according to a joint study released today.

New School University's Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy and UCLA's Center for the Study of Urban Poverty entitled, "Day Labor in New York." The research was guided by Dr. Edwin Melendez from Milano, and Dr. Abel Valenzuela, Jr of UCLA, and was funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation. The project also included the input of a Day Labor Advisory Board made up of community leaders, immigrant rights activists, and academics.

The report examined data from the New York Day Labor Survey (NYDLS), and its primary objective was to provide one of the first evaluations of an issue, although widely witnessed, never adequately examined.

"This is by no means the conclusion of the study," said Dr. Melendez. "The analysis is descriptive in nature, and is preliminary in the sense that it has never been studied before – this is just a small portion of a much larger project."

The study defined day laborers or jornaleros, as people who gather on street corners, parking lots, home improvement stores, or an official hiring site seeking work for the hour, the day, or a specific job. Homeowners and contractors are the primary employers of day laborers.

The project identified 57 sites where day laborers gather in the metropolitan area, and selected 29 representative sites to study – the sites were located in Bergen (NJ), Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Manhattan, Long Island, Westchester, Putnam, and Rockland.

"Day Labor in New York" discovered that day laborers are overwhelmingly Latino – one-third from Mexico, a third from Central America, and a third from South America. One-third also reported being homeless.

"Most interesting with regards to the make-up of day laborers," said Dr. Valenzuela, "was that over 5 percent of the workforce were women."

"In addition, a significant portion is educated. The range of education is anywhere from none to college and beyond," Valenzuela continued. "The average number of years of schooling is almost 8, and almost 30 percent of those interviewed have over 10 years of formal schooling."

Although difficult and often times dangerous, the study found the pay for day laborers was significantly more than minimum wage. Indeed, 77% of day laborers earn $10.00 or less. However, because the work is irregular during a good month, a day laborer may bring home only $1,450 – during a bad month as little as $500. Despite the low earnings, day laborers are still able to send significant amount of money to assist family and friends in their home countries.

"We also discovered day labor is full time work," said Melendez. "Eighty-three percent of day laborers work the market full time, while the other 17 percent hold down part time jobs."
Day Laborers perform a variety of jobs including dangerous tasks which might expose them to chemical wastes or other occupational hazards. Primarily they fill construction, painting, carpentry, and landscape jobs.

"One of the big questions we always get is ‘why do they do it'", said Valenzuela. "The big reason is this seems to be a stepping stone to full time employment."

The study found that 45 percent of day laborers work in this industry for less than one year – only 16 percent worked for more than four years. Reasons for not working in the formal job market varied, and included: lack of documentation, little English skills, and discrimination and abuse from employers.

However, day laborers are routinely abused in the workplace. In fact, half of day laborers reported at least one instance of non-payment of wages. Day laborers are also often abandoned at work sites, are given bad checks, sometimes get no breaks, and are robbed.

Dr. Edwin Melendez is Professor and Director of the Community Development Research Center of the New School University's Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy. Dr. Melendez is widely published and conducts research in the areas of economic development, labor markets, and poverty.

Dr Abel Valenzuela, Jr. is an Associate Professor of Chicano Studies and Urban Planning and Director of UCLA's Center for the Study of Urban Poverty. Dr. Valenzuela holds faculty appointments in the Cesar E. Chavez Center and in the Department of Urban Planning of the School of Public Policy and Social Research. He is currently completing a book-length manuscript on day laborers in Los Angeles, and is also widely published.

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