LOS ANGELES, CA - 10FEBRUARY09 - In an old building at the edge of Los Angeles' downtown garment district, and under a freeway in West L.A., day labor centers are places where immigrant workers look for work, find shelter and friendship, and organize themselves to pursue better wages and their rights. Downtown workers hold a raffle to see who will clean the center that morning. The winners are the first people who will be sent out to work. In West L.A. young men play soccer while waiting for contractors to arrive, and then gather around the center coordinator to sign up for work. Meanwhile, another day laborer paints the name of the West Los Angeles Day Labor Center on a post under the freeway. The centers are a project of IDEPSCA, and affiliated with the National Day Labor Organizing Network.

Thanks to the Jornaleros Photo Workshop for inspiration.




--David Bacon is the author of Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants and Borders.