RemittancesGateway.org

Some S. Fla. day laborers say economy is improving

Monday, 17 May 2010 08:18

Source: Miami Herald
By ALFONSO CHARDY

Some South Florida day laborers say the economy may be improving because more people are willing to hire them.

Just when day laborer César Jiménez thought he would be returning home empty-handed, he got lucky.

A red van drove up and picked up Jiménez, a Mexican migrant worker and a fellow day laborer for a day's work filling buckets with tomatoes at a nearby Homestead farm.

That Jiménez got work at all is perhaps symbolic of the optimism felt by some that the economy is slowly coming back, at least for day labor.

Recent surveys show that remittances to families in Latin America are stabilizing after severe declines last year and orders of construction materials are increasing.

Late in 2008 and early last year, day laborers in Homestead and other South Florida pickup sites were few, and many were planning to leave either to other states or return to their homelands.

While some day laborers still have bleak opinions about the economy, they can see a silver lining.

``There is a ray of hope,'' said Victor Salazar, a 35-year-old Nicaraguan waiting for work in the parking lot of a shopping mall near the junction of Florida's Turnpike and Southwest 40th Street. ``This time last year, I was getting work one or two days a week. Now, I work three days a week most of the time.''

HIGHER SALES

Jiménez, the Homestead worker, said a friend had recently obtained steady construction work fixing sidewalks.

``That is the first time I hear of work in construction for more than a year,'' said Jiménez, who left Georgia last year after working construction there for a decade.

Jiménez's observation tracks with a recent Bloomberg News story that a four-year slump in construction may be ending.

The analysis was based on reports of higher monthly sales by some of the nation's leading construction material suppliers.

Cemex SAB, the largest U.S. cement producer, and Vulcan Materials, the top gravel supplier, reported monthly volume increases for March and April, their first since 2006, according to Bloomberg.

The decline in remittances may also be ending.

``I've begun to send a little more money to my relatives in my country,'' said José Montaño, a Honduran at a day laborer pickup site in Broward near 441 and Interstate 595.

A recent report by the Inter-American Development Bank, which closely tracks immigrants' money transfers, showed that remittances to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean would stabilize this year after falling 15 percent in 2009.

Whether the optimism of a few South Florida day laborers indicates an economic recovery is anyone's guess.

STILL UNCLEAR

South Florida immigrant rights activists said it's unclear where the economy is headed.

``Things are still not stable,'' said Jonathan Fried, head of WeCount!, an immigrant rights organization in Homestead.

``A lot of people are still out of work . . . The economic situation, we hope it improves, but it really hasn't improved a whole lot.''

For some, the positive changes still haven't trickled down to them.

``Things are still not good,'' said Wesler Joseph, 63, a Haitian migrant worker interviewed in Homestead. ``I would say things are going from bad to worse. There is no work most of the time.''

Another Haitian worker sitting on a plastic box nearby said the cold weather earlier this year had affected the harvest, compounding the scarcity of work.

``Two years ago things were much better,'' said Jules Hosse, 30.