Macehualli Day Labor Center Celebrates Sixth Anniversary, Endures
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Phoenix, Arizona - Day laborers of the Macehualli Labor Center
celebrated the sixth anniversary of the space where they gather
every day hoping to find temporary work. About 200 people between
guests and workers attended the celebration of the controversial
center that has not only attracted day laborers but also groups that
oppose its operations.
Macehualli is located in Northeast Phoenix, in an area known as
Palomino, and it is a meeting place where workers without
permanent employment offer their skills to individuals and employers
who are in need of temporary help.
The center was established in 2003 to provide a formal site where
day laborers would be able to solicit work, and to keep them off
sidewalks and areas surrounding the neighborhood’s businesses.
However, before and after its opening, the center became a focus of
both approval and criticism.
While business owners and area residents in Palomino welcomed the
Macehualli Center as a beneficial factor, groups who oppose
undocumented immigration consider the center a magnet for
individuals looking for employment without a work permit.
“This center has been a unifying center that has brought this
neighborhood and community together,” said Salvador Reza,
coordinator of the Macehualli Center, and organizer of the Phoenix-
based labor and human rights movement called Puente.
Reza was the driving force behind the creation of the center, having
worked with public officials, business owners and workers to
promote negotiations for approximately two years, before an
operation’s permit and funding for the construction of the center was
granted.
At least since 2005, though sporadically, groups of armed Minutemen
began showing up at the Macehualli Center with U.S. flags, photo
and video cameras. Besides harassing, intimidating and obstructing
the day labor center’s operations, their intent has been to document
the interactions between workers and employers, as well as report
their information to authorities and post it on Internet sites.
As a result of a series of weekly demonstrations between October
and December of 2007 —organized by Reza and the so called 35th
Street and Thomas Organizing Committee— groups of Minutemen
have been protesting outside the day labor center since January of
2008. Members of some of these groups showed up for the sixth
anniversary celebration.
The nine weekly protests that brought the immigration debate to the
streets of Phoenix, and generated a volatile social atmosphere of
verbal confrontations, were intended to force the owners of a
furniture store in East Phoenix to stop hiring off-duty Maricopa
County Sheriff’s deputies to supposedly keep off day laborers from
the store’s area.
In spite of the continuous presence of Minutemen outside the center,
and their expressed intention to close it down, the day labor
gathering place has endured the vigilantes’ pressure upon its
operations. However, according to Reza, the flow of work has
decreased for day laborers.
“The main effect is that jobs have decreased,” stated Reza to
Barriozona, “but not just because of the Minutemen, but also
because of the effect absurd laws have had on the economy, laws
such as the employer sanctions law, and the anti-smuggler law. So
many absurd laws that were enacted have had a damaging effect on
the economy, because without the worker there is no money for the
state either.”
Rafael Martinez, a day laborer native of El Salvador who claims to
have gathered at the Macehualli Center for six years, think the
Minutemen’s presence outside has not had an effect on his ability to
find work. “I can say that it has not affected me personally at all; I
think it has not affected anybody else,” said Martinez.
For Aurelio Hernandez, a native of Mexico who states he has been
coming to the day labor center for the last six months, the situation
seems to be different. “Three years ago everything was working out
just fine, but for the last year and a half everything has collapsed;
with the Minutemen this has become a mess, and they don’t even let
you work and make a living,” said Hernandez.
In spite of the controversy surrounding the Macehualli, the center
has been able to overcome the challenges posed by the current
economic situation, and the constant harassment of the groups of
vigilantes, and there are plans to build a formal building that will
offer more services to residents of Palomino.
“We want to purchase this property,” revealed Reza, “and to build a
community center that meets all the needs of the community; health
care, educational, and recreational needs. A center that serves the
entire community.”
In celebrating its sixth anniversary with Aztec dances and
ceremonies, music and food, the Macehualli Center has proved to be
a social valve that channels the flow of day labor, organizing and
coordinating workers so they can solicit work safely and with some
protection.
At the same time, the center has become a symbol of work and
dignity for many, and of scorn and harassment for others, and it
exemplifies the constant conflict between a nation that benefits from
cheap labor, and the day laborer who works in the shadows, without
any employment benefits or recognition for his hard work.
celebrated the sixth anniversary of the space where they gather
every day hoping to find temporary work. About 200 people between
guests and workers attended the celebration of the controversial
center that has not only attracted day laborers but also groups that
oppose its operations.
Macehualli is located in Northeast Phoenix, in an area known as
Palomino, and it is a meeting place where workers without
permanent employment offer their skills to individuals and employers
who are in need of temporary help.
The center was established in 2003 to provide a formal site where
day laborers would be able to solicit work, and to keep them off
sidewalks and areas surrounding the neighborhood’s businesses.
However, before and after its opening, the center became a focus of
both approval and criticism.
While business owners and area residents in Palomino welcomed the
Macehualli Center as a beneficial factor, groups who oppose
undocumented immigration consider the center a magnet for
individuals looking for employment without a work permit.
“This center has been a unifying center that has brought this
neighborhood and community together,” said Salvador Reza,
coordinator of the Macehualli Center, and organizer of the Phoenix-
based labor and human rights movement called Puente.
Reza was the driving force behind the creation of the center, having
worked with public officials, business owners and workers to
promote negotiations for approximately two years, before an
operation’s permit and funding for the construction of the center was
granted.
At least since 2005, though sporadically, groups of armed Minutemen
began showing up at the Macehualli Center with U.S. flags, photo
and video cameras. Besides harassing, intimidating and obstructing
the day labor center’s operations, their intent has been to document
the interactions between workers and employers, as well as report
their information to authorities and post it on Internet sites.
As a result of a series of weekly demonstrations between October
and December of 2007 —organized by Reza and the so called 35th
Street and Thomas Organizing Committee— groups of Minutemen
have been protesting outside the day labor center since January of
2008. Members of some of these groups showed up for the sixth
anniversary celebration.
The nine weekly protests that brought the immigration debate to the
streets of Phoenix, and generated a volatile social atmosphere of
verbal confrontations, were intended to force the owners of a
furniture store in East Phoenix to stop hiring off-duty Maricopa
County Sheriff’s deputies to supposedly keep off day laborers from
the store’s area.
In spite of the continuous presence of Minutemen outside the center,
and their expressed intention to close it down, the day labor
gathering place has endured the vigilantes’ pressure upon its
operations. However, according to Reza, the flow of work has
decreased for day laborers.
“The main effect is that jobs have decreased,” stated Reza to
Barriozona, “but not just because of the Minutemen, but also
because of the effect absurd laws have had on the economy, laws
such as the employer sanctions law, and the anti-smuggler law. So
many absurd laws that were enacted have had a damaging effect on
the economy, because without the worker there is no money for the
state either.”
Rafael Martinez, a day laborer native of El Salvador who claims to
have gathered at the Macehualli Center for six years, think the
Minutemen’s presence outside has not had an effect on his ability to
find work. “I can say that it has not affected me personally at all; I
think it has not affected anybody else,” said Martinez.
For Aurelio Hernandez, a native of Mexico who states he has been
coming to the day labor center for the last six months, the situation
seems to be different. “Three years ago everything was working out
just fine, but for the last year and a half everything has collapsed;
with the Minutemen this has become a mess, and they don’t even let
you work and make a living,” said Hernandez.
In spite of the controversy surrounding the Macehualli, the center
has been able to overcome the challenges posed by the current
economic situation, and the constant harassment of the groups of
vigilantes, and there are plans to build a formal building that will
offer more services to residents of Palomino.
“We want to purchase this property,” revealed Reza, “and to build a
community center that meets all the needs of the community; health
care, educational, and recreational needs. A center that serves the
entire community.”
In celebrating its sixth anniversary with Aztec dances and
ceremonies, music and food, the Macehualli Center has proved to be
a social valve that channels the flow of day labor, organizing and
coordinating workers so they can solicit work safely and with some
protection.
At the same time, the center has become a symbol of work and
dignity for many, and of scorn and harassment for others, and it
exemplifies the constant conflict between a nation that benefits from
cheap labor, and the day laborer who works in the shadows, without
any employment benefits or recognition for his hard work.
By Eduardo Barraza January 31, 2009
| Hispanic Institute of Social Issues © 2006-2011 All rights reserved. webmaster@hisi.org |
Controversial gathering point for day
laborers persists in spite of opposition.
Photo by Jonathan E. Hernandez | Barriozona
laborers persists in spite of opposition.
Photo by Jonathan E. Hernandez | Barriozona
Related Links
| Featured Video: Macehualli Center |
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Eduardo Barraza is a journalist and writer,
Barriozona Magazine's editor, and director of
the Hispanic Insitute of Social Issues.
E-mail: editor@barriozona.com
Barriozona Magazine's editor, and director of
the Hispanic Insitute of Social Issues.
E-mail: editor@barriozona.com
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