Day Labor Program Update; Planning Commission Meeting 10/17

SF City Hall Launches Another Round Of Attacks Against Day Labor Program

Despite what appeared to be a victory for the Day Labor Program, Mayor Brown is pushing ahead with his campaign to withdraw the city contract from La Raza Centro Legal. Several weeks ago, City Hall announced that the SF Immigrant Rights Commission would oversee the distribution of funding for the program. As the Commission had previously endorsed La Raza’s administration of the program, this seemed to be a positive step. It is likely that Mission District’s unified support for the program and continuous pressure from the workers prompted this decision. All of the workers’ marches, rallies, pickets, and ally support letters played an important role in encouraging this unexpected move.


However, the Mayor’s Office has now announced that the Commission will have to conduct a third request for proposals, forcing La Raza to jump through further bureaucratic hoops. It is unclear exactly what the process will be, as contradictory statements have been coming from the Mayor’s Office. To add further confusion, Sergio Canjura, the Mayor’s Mission District liaison, is informing community members that he will be overseeing the decision making process, a decidedly negative prospect for La Raza.

The city has also posed another set-back by stalling the permit process for construction on the Program’s new Cesar Chavez Street building. The city will now require the Program to conduct a $7000 Traffic Impact Study, which will take a minimum of several months to complete, prior to holding the necessary hearing. This implies that the day labor program, which receives less than two drop-in employers per day and specializes in dispatching workers directly to job-sites, will drastically alter and increase the flow of traffic in the neighborhood. We will still be attending the scheduled hearing date of Thursday, October 17th and speaking during the comment period to register our opposition to this stalling tactic.

Mayor Brown’s campaign against the Day Labor Program began in early 2002. Following the appointment of a new Mission District Police Captain, day laborers on Cesar Chavez St. began facing escalated levels of police ticketing and harassment. The workers organized to protest this discrimination, holding the Mayor and the Police Chief accountable for the situation, and asserted their rights to run the program from a new location on Cesar Chavez St. Mayor Brown then retaliated by withdrawing the money previously allotted to the program through the Mayor’s Office on Community Development and placing it up for public bid.


WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS FOR THE DAY LABOR PROGRAM?

1) WE ARE STILL FIGHTING TO MOVE INTO OUR NEW BUILDING! Despite having a signed lease, we face an indefinite delay before beginning construction. What was originally to be the final step, a meeting with SF Planning Department on Thursday, October 17th to obtain the necessary permits, will now be a crucial moment to register dissent. Please attend the hearing to show your support! It will take place at SF City Hall, Room 400; public testimony begins at 1:30pm promptly. Please feel free to call Elly Kugler’s cell phone (415) 235-0162 on that afternoon to check-in about our place on the agenda.

2) PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES AS THE SITUATION REMAINS CRITICAL! The campaign continues and we will need your on-going support.

For more information, please contact Renee Saucedo at (415) 553-3404, or renee [at] lrcl.org.

Thank you for all your work and support!
Que viva la clase obrera!
Que vivan los jornaleros de San Francisco!