Introduction
Day labor is a phenomenon in LA county which is expanding and developing into a network, one of many infrastructures supporting and nourishing this sprawling city. Grounding this statement as reality leads this paper to start with some history. No doubt, immigration to the U.S. has been a major issue throughout the country’s history of development. Two big immigration waves at the beginning of this century between the years 1882-1907 were welcomed by the nation for the subsequent growth in cities factories, mines and farms . With these new arrivals new problems arose regarding the issue of immigration, problems such as unemployment, lowering the quality of living, drops of minimum wage and xehnophobia. Parallel to the disadvantages of immigration there were many advantages of an economic expansion riding on the wave of a new cheap work force. Immigration is still on the economic and political agenda; despite the various legislation and attempts to make an improvement, the immigration problem has persisted and even gotten worse.
The phenomenon of day laborers isn’t a new one, it is an inevitable component of an immigration work force. Irish day laborers holding a shovel soliciting work on street curbs of developing cities were a common sight at the beginning of the century as Mexican day laborers are today. "Three quarters of the immigrants to the U.S. come from Asia and Latin America. Of the estimated 4 million undocumented immigrants in this country about 1.5 million live in California" . 85% of the employees in LA city’s booming apparel industry, for instance, are undocumented workers (see table 1). Some of the reasons for the increase in the day labor market are:
1. The restructuring of the US economy. The shift from the earl ford model of mass production to more flexible modes of production contribute to the increase in unemployment, particularly for low-skilled individuals. The unemployment rate in LA County registered a dramatic increase from 6.6% in 1980 to 8.2% in 1996 . The rise in unemployment creates a labor surplus market that leads to exploitation of the labor force. Most of LA’s economic expansion, since 1970, has been through low cost employment of illegal immigrants as day laborers.
2. IRCA -Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The IRCA increased the visibility of the informal labor market in terms of street vendors and day laborers. Unlike many factories, street-side employers never ask for documents.
3. Economy and Politics in Latin America. The unstable political and economic conditions in many parts of Latin America increased immigration to the US, and through this increased the cheap labor force.