Press Conference Announcement

STUDY RELEASED CHRONICLING ABUSES COMMITTED AGAINST BALTIMORE DAY
LABORERS

- Bad Employers Exposed –
The "Grinches who Stole a Day Laborer's Christmas" to be named this
Wednesday


What: Press conference releasing two-year study outlining
abuses committed against African-American and Latino Day Laborers
When: December 22, 2004, at 11:00 am
Where: CASA of Maryland - Baltimore, 6 N. Broadway, Baltimore,
Maryland


This Wednesday CASA of Maryland and the Homeless Person's
Representation Project will jointly release Baltimore's Day Laborer
Report: Their Stolen Sweat, a chronicle of abuses commonly committed
by regional employers against primarily African-American and Latino
Day Laborers in the City of Baltimore.

"I have seen three people die since I started doing construction
work," reports one worker interviewed in the study. "I have never
had a job [in Baltimore] where the safety equipment was adequate,"
reports another. The report testimony exemplifies national
statistics that construction, the most common industry in which day
laborers operate, posts the second highest incidence of nonfatal
occupational injustices and illnesses, at 7.1 per 100 workers.
According to the National Academy of Sciences, foreign-born Latino
men are nearly 2.5 times more likely to be killed on the job than
the average U.S. born worker.

"Day laborers form the backbone of Baltimore's economy; they perform
the hardest work, under the worst conditions, for the poorest pay,"
reported Todd Cherkis, a worker organizer with the Homeless Persons
Representation Project.

The day laborer economy is a regional economy; employers oftentimes
drive into Baltimore from the surrounding counties, employ workers
off the street, and then abandon them far from the city at the end
of the day without pay. In response, workers began to organize.
Two years ago, the United Workers Association was organized by temp
agency workers and most recently, the UWA has focused on the use of
day laborer crews to clean up Camden Yards at the end of home
games. Similarly, the Baltimore Workers Association brings together
Latino workers who are hired on a daily basis on the street on
Baltimore's Eastside.

The press conference will present the results of the study,
testimonials from workers, and recommendations for reform. In
addition, the five "Grinches who Stole a Day Laborer's Christmas",
employers who have engaged in egregious or repeated labor law
violations, will be identified.

For more information, contact Kim Propeack at 301-379-7461
or Todd Cherkis at 410-685-6589, ext. 19.