By Linda Taaffe

Local day workers seeking legal rights took to the streets Friday evening as part of a nationwide march staged to coincide with the introduction of the Day Laborer Fairness and Protection Act to the House of Representatives. The act, introduced by Rep. Luis Gutierrez, would hold those who hire day laborers accountable to federal employment standards applied to normal employers.

Maria Marroquin, director of St. Joseph the Worker Center in Mountain View, an agency that helps match employers with day laborers, said the workers are susceptible to labor abuses, especially since many wait on street corners for work and are paid in cash for daily jobs. Most in the Los Altos area are hired for garden or construction work.

The center acts as the middleman, helping employees and employers agree on wages and work terms, but workers have no recourse should employers renege on a payment.

“If a worker doesn’t get paid and goes to the police, the police say, ‘ I can’t do anything,’” Marroquin said. “The law will criminalize those employers and give workers some protection.”

Most workers said they had suffered few abuses from local employers. Non or partial payment for work was the most common abuse, according to some laborers at St. Joseph the Worker Center in Mountain View. Work-related injuries were also a concern.

“Many times the workers don’t get paid. It happens a lot,” said worker Gonzalo Garcia. “Two weeks ago, I remember a worker got (poison oak) on his arm from a job. The employer just (shrugged) … There is nothing we can do. That’s why we are here (today).”

More than 60 workers from as far as San Jose gathered at the worker center to march more than 4 miles to Los Altos and Mountain View city halls to gather support for better working conditions.

If passed, the labor act would provide workers protection from employers and labor centers by establishing standards for overtime pay; a four-hour minimum daily rate;

itemized statements showing all reductions; joint liability for health and safety by agencies and clients; and would ban transportation fees and fees for safety and protective equipment that some agencies impose.

St. Joseph is a non-profit center that does not charge workers for its services, said volunteer Lucia Valencia.

The center, which serves about 100 workers a day, already has some protective guidelines in place.

Volunteers won’t negotiate for wages less than $10 an hour; they require employers to pay at least a two-hour minimum and to provide overtime pay when necessary.

About 30 workers a day find jobs through the center, Valencia said.