Beneath the story of boom times in Northern Virginia is the story of day laborers, all too often immigrants, being exploited by unscrupulous contractors. From today’s Washington Post, a sample:
Adonay Hernandez, 26, of Arlington said he worked three days this month installing sheetrock at a home in Reston. The contractor gave him a check for only $300, instead of the promised wage of $364, Hernandez said. Then the check bounced, he said.
Fortunately, some day laborers, assisted by community service groups, are fighting back and getting justice:
In Prince William County, five Mexican immigrants won awards totaling more than $5,000 in small claims court from contractors.
In addition to the problem of not getting paid, many day laborers are getting no safety training before being assigned to dangerous work and many are sustaining injuries as a result.
I’m not in favor of setting up some new bureaucracy to police the cretinous contractors, but I think existing state agencies ought to come down like a ton of bricks on those who do not treat day laborers fairly. I think agencies can be more creative in establishing a presence to let contractors know they are being watched. It’s not like the day laborers don’t congregate in one place where someone could explain their rights or give them some safety tips.