Laborers, Home Depot face off

September 28, 2006|By FROM NEWS SERVICES

A slight man inside a shiny black Range Rover peered out his window as he slowly exited the Home Depot parking lot in Cicero. Within minutes, 23 jornaleros were at his door, jostling for his favor.

"I need young, young," the driver said sharply to the day laborers. "It's right in Berwyn. As many hours as you want."

Then he offered $8 an hour. He wouldn't say what sort of work it would be.

Tension marked the exchange. A Cicero police officer ordered the contractor off the lot and chased the workers from the scene.

Not so long ago, things were much more serene. The day laborers--some illegal immigrants, others not--have been going there for years. They offer their services laying tile, installing carpeting or painting a room to homeowners buying supplies at the store.

Workers recall a time when they were allowed to wait by the store exit, and on cold days, they were allowed to stand just inside the store. Sometimes a manager came by with cups of hot coffee.

But in the summer of 2005, Home Depot officials were calling police to complain about the men soliciting work on their property. Over the next three months, Cicero police arrested 55 laborers on misdemeanor trespassing charges. Five more men were arrested on the same charge in January.

"It's a mystery why Home Depot started arresting folks," said B. Loewe, a spokesman for the Latino Union of Chicago, an advocacy group representing the day laborers.

Bad feelings and bad publicity followed. Although charges were eventually dropped, many workers say they remain fearful of another roundup.

Welcome or not, the current arrangement marks a detente of sorts between laborers and Home Depot executives.

The Atlanta-based home improvement empire--the nation's No. 2 retailer--still maintains a no-solicitation policy, said Home Depot spokesman Yancey Casey.

As such, the laborers are still no more welcome to look for work on company grounds than a Girl Scout would be to sell cookies, Casey said.