SF Day Laborers Picket Volunteers of America

For Immediate Release: September 17, 2002 Press Contact: Renee Saucedo (415) 553-3404, Elly Kugler (between 8am-12noon on 9/18 only) (415) 235-0162 San Francisco Day Laborers Picket Against Oakland Volunteers Of America On Wednesday, September 18th at 10:00AM, San Francisco Day Laborers will hold a picket in front of Volunteers Of America’s (VOA) Oakland Office to send a clear message of opposition against the agency’s application to administer the SF Day Labor Program. Three weeks ago, a delegation of SF community organizations held a meeting with VOA President John Bailey to inform him of the contentious political context in which Mayor Willie Brown placed Day Labor Program up for public bid. A variety of community leaders explained that the transfer of services away from La Raza Centro Legal would be extremely disruptive to Day Laborer organizing. Despite these grave concerns, Bailey and VOA have decided to pursue their application. “We don’t want VOA running our Day Labor Program because in Oakland, they support the police moving workers off the public sidewalks and we don’t want that here. No one will support our rights as human beings as La Raza has,” says day laborer Hector Valdez. Following a series of peaceful demonstrations last Spring, in which members of the SF Day Labor Program denounced continuing abuses by the Mission Police Department, Mayor Brown put the program up for bid. The Mayor’s office accused La Raza Centro Legal, the agency that has successfully administered the program for the past three years, of ‘using the day laborers to further its own political agenda.’ As evidenced by this response, the Mayor’s retaliatory actions are a flagrant attempt to strip the primarily immigrant workers of their 1st amendment rights. The city has since proceeded with a highly questionable bidding process, actively soliciting applicants in a desperate search for another agency both willing and qualified to compete with La Raza. At the close of bidding, only VOA has applied. The picket will take in front of VOA’s office at 303 Hegenberger Road, Oakland at 10:00AM,Wednesday. The Mexican Bus transporting workers and supporters will depart the Day Labor Program (17th and Hampshire Streets, SF) at 9:00AM.