El Reportero: Day Laborers rebel against Renee Saucedo

Number of Day Laborers rebel against Renee Saucedo

Workers express support for Capt. Corrales

by Fresia Rodríguez Cadavid


Day laborers Julio Arredondo (left) and Dindrako Zelaya speak before the Board of Supervisors

Photo by Jason Steinberg

The Day Labor Program of San Francisco, led by attorney Renee Saucedo, have held several protests against the police in the past two years, particularly Mission Station captain Greg Corrales, accusing officers of harrassment.

However, as Corrales remains indicted by a grand jury in connection with a brawl five months ago, a number of day laborers, who have voiced their opinions against him, are now supporting the captain.

As it would turn out, though, that support had consequences for the workers. While Saucedo and the day laborers went to a San Francisco Police Commission hearing on March 26, five of the workers spoke in favor of Corrales being reinstated if the charges are dropped.

According to one of the workers, Dindrako Zelaya, Saucedo attempted to get all the workers to sign a letter against Corrales to present at the hearing, but the five laborers refused.

Two days later, Zelaya said, they were kicked out of the program.

Also, according to Zelaya, Saucedo then accused the five men of being "traitors."

"I don't know Willie Brown, but she says, 'You are Willie Brown's spy,'" he said.

Zelaya, along with fellow worker Julio Arredondo, spoke against Saucedo at Tuesday afternoon's Board of Supervisors meeting, in which they said they were kicked out of the Day Labor Program "just because we are not in agreement with Renee Saucedo."

"Our fight in this country is not against the police," Zelaya said. "It's not against Captain Corrales. It's against unfair employers. She doesn't respect the freedom of speech."

Saucedo, on the other hand, said that the five men were kicked out as a result of a majority vote by the rest of the day laborers.

"(Workers getting fired) happens every day," she said.

The reason: because, according to Saucedo, "they've allied themselves with the neighbors who have decided that they want day laborers off of César Chávez Street."

When asked why those workers, who still look for work on that street, take sides with those who want the workers off the street, she said she doesn't know.

At the Police Commission hearing, a letter was given to the Police Commission last Wednesday afternoon with signatures from 50 workers requesting Corrales' removal from Mission Station, even if he is reinstated.

Meanwhile, a separate letter signed by 10 others, including Zelaya and Arredondo, was given to the commission, asking the organization to deny Saucedo's request to have Corrales removed.

"We have met with the captain and believe that he has our best interests in his heart," the letter read. "Without a doubt, we know that he supports the workers' right to find jobs."

Currently, the day laborers' job situation is in a sad state, according to the workers. The letter to the Police Commission said that day laborers only get "two to three hours of work every two to three weeks," and that Saucedo puts her political agenda before the need for workers to get jobs.

"In place of jobs, we are told to march against the police captain (Corrales)," the letter said. "The agency should be finding jobs for us. Instead, they fight to have the captain removed."

Mike Miller Quintana, who lives on César Chavez Street and talks to many of the workers, also said that Saucedo uses the program for her own political game.

"The purpose of the program is to get people jobs," Quintana said. "But it's really a political football. She's not interested in talking. She calls anybody who disagrees with her a racist.

"She doesn't know how to get them jobs," Quintana added. "That never even comes up with her."

The next Police Commission hearing is scheduled for Friday, April 4, with a number of Mission residents believing that Corrales will be cleared of any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, the Day Labor Program has been officially given to the Volunteers of America, an Oakland-based organization. As a result, Saucedo, along with La Raza Centro Legal, has filed a lawsuit against the City of San Francisco, including Mayor Willie Brown and Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services representatives Ron Vinson and Sergio Canjura.