Every morning they stand in the street corners, hoping to find an “employer.” They work for 10, 12 and even up to 14 hours straight a day. In a workplace without an air conditioner and a lunch break, these immigrant workers – mostly Polish and Latinos – load and unload goods from big trucks, clean homes owned by Jews.
But while these workers are most likely willing to do any type of manual job, Jewish employers have particular requirements in mind.
According to a New York Times report, Jewish employers preferred young Polish students with good English-language skills, followed by Polish women in their 50s and 60s and then Latino women.
Jewish employers also showed a preference for Polish women immigrants who have legal status – whether through a green card or a valid tourist visa.
“We don’t speak with Latino women workers. They agree to work for less and destroy the labor market,” said Teresa, 53, an immigrant worker from Poland.
Polish women day laborers usually stand by the Williamsburg Bridge where Jewish employers come to hire to clean their apartments and take care of their children, however, babushkhas (grandmothers) are overlooked in the hiring process.
The other preferred immigrant women workers, the report added, are those from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Honduras. These Latinos wait for jobs at the corner of 37th Street and 8th Avenue.
Discrimination?
Some Latino workers complained that they get fewer work opportunities because of their skin color. According to Maria, 35, an immigrant worker from Ecuador, white women get the jobs and earn more money. During the summer, it is also not easy to get a job because a lot of potential employers are on vacation, she added.
The waiting
The Fashion District, at the corner of 37th Street and 8th Avenue, is full of life on a Monday morning. Restaurants, retail stores and fashion shops are everywhere. The tall buildings house clothing manufacturing businesses owned mainly by Chinese and Koreans.
On both sides of the street, small groups of immigrants patiently wait for work and look around.
“I have been in the United States for a month now. I stand here and wait for something everyday,” Carlos Sarmiento, an Ecuadorian immigrant, told Super Express USA. “Sometimes days go by without finding a job.”
“Usually, we get hired to load trucks, or as kitchen help,” said John, another worker from Ecuador.
“For many immigrants, a job in the street is the only way to survive. Without legal documents, it is very difficult to be hired – and the employers who give us work are well aware of our situation,” Sarmiento said.
The hiring
After a short conversation about the work and salary, the employer and the worker usually come to an agreement. The workers, often hired for a day or two, receive from five to six dollars per hour.
Everyday at 8:00 a.m., six days a week, year round, close to 150 immigrant workers gather on 37th Street and Eight Avenue to look for work – mostly men and women in their 30s and 40s. Since it became a popular “spot” in 1999, the number of workers who wait at that street corner has increased three fold.
Documents still matter
“I came to the United State for a vacation, but I stayed; I wanted to earn some money. It’s not easy, though, because every employer asks for working documents,” said Karolina, a 23-year-old Pole.
Karolina waits along with a dozen of Polish women, between the ages of 20 and 60, at the corner of Marcy and Division Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, looking for house-cleaning job work. It doesn’t matter if the job is permanent or temporary as long as she has earned money by the end of the day.
“I used to have a permanent cleaning job, but my Jewish employer took a holiday in the mountains,” said Elizabeth, a middle-aged Polish woman who has been cleaning houses since she left Poland three years ago. “I don’t want to hide. I have a good job.”
The best season to look for a job, the immigrant workers said, is before the Jewish holidays. During that period, almost no one is left waiting at the corner of Marcy and Division Avenue.
