S.F. day laborers showing up for work, but often struggle to get paid

"But getting hired does not always guarantee getting paid. After 17 days on a job doing grueling cement laying, day laborer Alfredo says he was only paid for four. When he spoke up, the contractor threatened to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "He said that if I kept asking for the money, he would call ICE on me, because he knows where I live," Alfredo said in Spanish."

"John Logan, chair of the department of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University, says that wage theft among day laborers "has been an ongoing problem for a very long time." But given the federal crackdown on immigration, Logan says, employers have "basically been given a green light by the Trump administration" to knowingly hire undocumented workers with the goal of exploiting them."

"David Valencia, program manager of the Mission Action day-labor program, added that workers have long feared speaking up about workplace injustices, even before the Trump administration. Many are unaware of San Francisco labor laws, and accept less than minimum wage from employers simply because they need the money. A language barrier, he said, often prevents them from effectively standing up to their employers."

Undocumented and Latino day laborers in the Mission District gather at street corners before dawn to seek daily work, often working seven days a week. Jobs are inconsistent and many workers experience wage theft, with employers sometimes paying only part of agreed wages. Contractors have threatened to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement to silence workers who demand payment. Fear, language barriers, and limited knowledge of San Francisco labor laws leave workers hesitant to report abuses or negotiate pay. Local programs like Mission Action offer support for workers who experience wage theft. Experts characterize wage theft among day laborers as a long-standing problem.

Read at Mission Local