Author Archives: Dayra Rivas

Another important site of struggle for Mexican and Latino migrant workers has been in the day labor movement. This sector has become increasingly important to contractors and most non-unionized construction sites in New York because “day laborers can be hired on a temporary basis and paid in cash and below safety rates, while employers foContinue reading “Day Laborers”

The caswasheros are Mexican, Salvadoran, and Guatemalan workers who face some of the most exploitative conditions in the city. Non-unionized cashwasheros were expected to work at least 50 hours a week for as little as $5.50 an hour. They are “regularly exposed to dangerous chemicals and are expected to work in extreme temperatures” (Gonzalez, 24).Continue reading “Battle to Make Car Wash Industry More Fair for Workers”

The Food Service Industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the U.S. economy and one of the largest employers of migrants. Restaurant workers who make our food, bring it to our tables, or wash the dishes it is cooked and served on, “live on some of the lowest wages in the United StatesContinue reading “The Restaurant Industry”

Over the past twenty years the United States’ undocumented immigrant population has both increased and become more geographically widespread. Currently one in nineteen civilian workers in the United States is undocumented. These are more than 8.3 million workers who are concentrated in sectors ranging from construction to food services to janitorial work. A prominent concernContinue reading “Introduction”