SF DAY LABOR PROGRAM OPENS NEW DOORS

On Saturday, August 27th, members of the San Francisco Day Labor Program will say goodbye to two trailers at Franklin Square Park where they have operated for 15 years, and will inaugurate their new Workers Center at 3358 Cesar Chavez Street. The Program has struggled since its inception to acquire a space on Cesar Chavez Street in order to be close to the day laborers who naturally congregate there, and to provide a safe and dignified space for its members.

Day Labor Program’s desire for a safe and dignified space on Cesar Chavez Street has been a controversial issue; The Program has encountered obstacles from the City of San Francisco, and from neighbors near Cesar Chavez Street, who wanted the Program to stay in the trailers on Potrero Hill, which have no heat, running water or bathrooms, and are located nearly two miles away from Cesar Chavez street.

In 2000, when La Raza Centro Legal took over the Day Labor Program, it commenced an aggressive campaign supporting workers’ organizing and leadership to obtain a building on or near Cesar Chavez Street.

“It has been very controversial to get a location for the members of the Day Labor Program, so it [the new building] is a victory for us. Now there is a safe and dignified place for the men who deserve it, who come [to the United States] to work so they can create a better life for their families,” says Guillermina Castallanos, a member of the Program’s staff.

Community members and supporting public are invited to celebrate the grand opening of the Day Labor Program’s new building on August 27th, 2005.

10:00 AM: Program members will gather at 17th and Hampshire Streets. Ken Collins will lead a drumming group. Speakers include Martin Rodriguez, who has been a member of the program since it began, German Martinez, the founding Director of the Program, and Hector Valdez, the Program’s current Director. Father Gabriel from St. Anthony's Church will conduct a blessing of the old site.

10:45 AM: Day Laborers and allies march from the old Program site to the new one, located at 3358 Cesar Chavez. At 11:30 AM two Program members, one man and one woman, will cut a ribbon at 3358 Cesar Chavez. Concha Saucedo will lead a blessing of the building with an indigenous ritual.

12:00 noon: Block party begins on Capp St., between 26th and Mission. Community members and the public are invited. Speakers and performers include: Aztec Dancers from Xicoa Danza Azteca, Renee Saucedo, the Program’s Community Empowerment Coordinator, Francisco Herrera and the Coro Obrero, a Day Laborer speaker, a Domestic Worker speaker, Anamaria Loya, Executive Director of La Raza Centro Legal, and Supervisor Chris Daly.

1-3 pm: A DJ from 3rd World Liberation Music will spin music. Community organizations and businesses will table, and there will be activities for children and food and non-alcoholic beverages for sale by the Women's Collective, a project of the SF Day Labor Program and La Raza Centro Legal.

For more information, please call (415) 553-3404.