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Working With Immigrant Day Laborers, Merrick Resident Finds Cultural Lessons—and New Friends

Posted October 15, 2010 by Ted Hesson

In late September, the Merrick edition of the Long Island Herald profiled Liz O’Shaughnessy, whose non-profit CoLoKi, Inc., administers a day laborer hiring site in Freeport.

Since the story was published, donations to the hiring site have been flowing in: The site trailer is now adorned with signs advertising “Workers Available,” and you could feed the Black Forest with the amount of donated bratwurst in the fridge.

The main purpose of the site is to help laborers find employment, but it also doubles as a communal living room of sorts for the laborers, many of whom live in cramped quarters and don’t have access to a kitchen or a television. At the trailer, they can gather on mornings when work is slow and play popular Latin American card games like “Con Quién” and Treinta y Uno.”

During my visit to the hiring site, what I noticed most of all was the rapport that O’Shaughnessy—Anglo, female, and several generations removed from her immigrant heritage—had with the day laborers, who are all male Latino immigrants. The laborers joke with her in Spanish and English, and refer to her as “tía,” which means “aunt,” or “la mamá de los pollitos,” the equivalent of “mother hen.”

Earlier this week, I spoke with O’Shaughnessy about the recent media exposure for the hiring site and the cultural exchange between the workers and herself. Here’s what she had to say:

Nearly all of the laborers here are first-generation immigrants, but many of them have lived on Long Island for decades. Does it seem as if the men identify as American or with their home countries?

Some of them are so devoutly American. They really love this country. They can make $80 to $100 a day here, while for the same backbreaking work, they would make $7 a day back in Guatemala. For the most part, they love America, and yet miss the beauty of their country. Don’t get “Nica” started…‘The mountains are so beautiful, and the fresh fruit!’ Those are the country guys.

After working at the hiring site for the past few years, have you noticed a divide between native-born residents and the immigrant laborers whom you meet here?

There’s a certain level of fear and I don’t know where that’s coming from. I encourage anyone who has the least bit of interest to come visit the trailer because it was one thing when I read about it, but once I came here and had a personal experience with the guys, it just opens up a whole new avenue of wanting to get involved. I had one laborer here tell me he couldn’t believe that I was American because he thought all Americans hated day laborers. I said, ‘No, of course not.’ How sad that he felt that way.

What type of people are you looking for as volunteers?

When I first started volunteering, there was a priest here, Father Thomas McNamara. When I asked him what can I do to help, his answer was to just come in and treat the men with dignity. For me, that was the perfect answer and that’s what I tell people now, because anyone can do that. You don’t have to be a language teacher; you don’t have to be a social worker.

Speaking of language teachers, I noticed that you speak some Spanish. Has this been an opportunity to improve your language skills?

I think I hit a wall a couple months ago; I have to get back to my Rosetta Stone. But amazingly enough, with my limited Spanish, and most of them not fluent in English, I can’t really think of any significant problems because of that language barrier. But I know I’ve said some unfortunate things [She laughs].

Like what kinds of things?

I’m not going to say [Brief conversation ensues about the dangers of seemingly innocent food vocabulary].

It’s not uncommon to hear about day laborers who leave their families to come and work in the states. Do the guys here often talk about their families back home?

Last week, Carlos was showing me this woman posing for the camera on his cell phone screensaver. That was his woman, and then he started showing me pictures of his kids, and there were two older girls, 10 and 11, and a little 5-year-old boy. He had never seen the boy, because when he left, his woman was five months pregnant. So he carries around a picture of a child that he’s never even held, and then to add even more sadness, the woman is now with another man. But he hangs on to that.

And “Colombia,” who is really a great friend of mine now, his son was tragically killed in Colombia back in January. He has three daughters and this was his only son.

I watched the whole DVD of the funeral, which is another culture thing, I guess. Like we tape weddings, it was a whole funeral. I think it’s been very hard for him to miss the funeral. We just watched the wedding of his oldest daughter, she’s now pregnant. They miss these really important events in their family.

Hiring sites are sometimes blamed for helping undocumented immigrants find jobs that might otherwise go to legal residents. How do you respond to those criticisms?

I encourage anyone who is in need of a job to come here. Let’s try that and see how they like the work that they’re getting picked up for. It’s just hard work; it’s back-breaking work. I feel like the contractors, as nice as they are, they’re getting their money’s worth and more. These guys work hard…You think these guys are taking jobs, that’s easy to say, but find a replacement for them and I’ll send them out first.

Along with all of the positive responses that you’ve gotten since the article in the Herald, I noticed that you also received a few comments about “illegal immigrants” online. How do you feel about those comments?

It’s a little frustrating to hear people harp on the whole legal issue of it. Is that a convenient way to not help a human being?

Are there unscrupulous contractors out there?

This guy was working sixteen-hour days in a restaurant, and—I did the math—he was making $5.65 an hour as a dishwasher. Sixteen-hour days. The guy was not leaving there until about one or two in the morning. And then they had the nerve to fire him and not give him his last week’s pay.

What’s the plan for the hiring site going forward?

This is kind of a foundation, so we could maybe build on this and go to a nice building. I’m all for that as long as the day laborers are. But the trailer is great for them. They’re not looking for fancy or anything, they just want work. The food, the coffee, me: It’s all secondary. The whole purpose is for them to get a job.