The stories we heard in casual conversation with the some of the men outside a convenience store on Ross were infuriating for the most part, and heartbreaking as well. Many were along the lines of being ditched at a restaurant during lunch on the third day of working a job, being picked up by a pair of men and robbed, or working for two weeks with no pay after driving to Montgomery, Alabama from Phoenix, Arizona. The worst story we heard happened just a few blocks away on Fitzhugh. A contractor had hired some guys to paint an apartment complex that had been renovated. After two weeks without pay one of the men began to argue with him. The argument became a fight. The contractor ran to his truck, took out a heavy tool, knocked the other man down, and beat his head in. He was immediately remorseful, and was found at the scene by the police. The victim had a wife and three children in Mexico, and the killer has a wife and children of his own. One of the men we met says he can put us in contact with a witnesses of the killing.
If our project is funded we hope to distribute questionnaires to possible participants and complete interviews with between eight and ten men. Each interviewee would be "reimbursed" for a day's lost wages at the end. Artifacts and documents of the interview would then be packaged in a custom built toolbox and placed inside of a metal lunchbox. The following photos are of different day laborer gathering places (the Plano office and an informal site off of Ross Ave.), a photo of myself talking to a future interviewee along with impressions of his hands, and a mock-up of a lunchbox and its suggested use. Above is a rough draft for a woodcut poster we'll be making to promote the project.
I used to work for the Equal Justice Center in Austin representing day laborers in lawsuits against employers who failed to pay them. Because many are here illegally, unscrupulous contractors feel they can take advantage of them by not paying them and if they complain, threaten them with deportation. Fortunately, even if here illegally, they have a right to be paid for work performed, and we were sometimes successful in helping them recover the money they were owed. Good for you for trying to bring this injustice to light.
ReplyDeleteCanada-
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a private gardener in Austin I would occasionally go down to First Workers to hire guys. The people I worked for were scrupulous about paying $10 an hour, making sure the men got at the opportunity to work at least eight hours, and usually tipped heavily. The stories the guys told were often heart breaking. Some had been in the country for years, still barely spoke English, and had grown sons and daughters in Mexico or elsewhere that they barely knew. On more than one occasion I've hired, or worked beside, former college professors. LMN is starting a blog related to the project now that we've secured funding, and we'd love to publish any stories you might be able to tell about your experience at the Equal Justice Center.