Day Labor study 2006.pdf - National Council for Occupational Safety ...

est job that they can reasonably hope to obtain. Job opportunities in their country oforigin have deteriorated badly and their qualifications place them near the bottom of theU.S. labor market providing limited choices for employment. Perhaps the best chance forthese workers to escape poverty-level wages is to improve their qualifications throughon-the-job training in the day-labor market, thereby increasing their job opportunitiesover the long run.So the day-labor market is something of a paradox. On the one hand, it ischaracterized by routine violations of basic labor standards, the workforce endures thehardships associated with low earnings levels and public opinion in some parts of thecountry has turned against day laborers. On the other hand, employer demand for theservices of day laborers is strong and growing, and a substantial share of the day-laborworkforce has made the transition to other areas of the economy where they areemployed as construction workers and factory production workers, among otheroccupations. Seen in the light of the findings of this study, day labor occupies an unusualposition in the U.S. economy. It is, at the same time, both disconnected from themainstream economy given the rampant violations of employment and workplace safetylaws that are found in this labor market, and connected to the mainstream economy byvirtue of the role it plays in a dominant industry (construction) and the pathways betweenemployment in the day-labor market and jobs in other parts of the economy. The finalsection of this report considers approaches to placing a floor under wages and workingconditions in the day-labor market.21