Day laborers and domestic workers of San Francisco celebrated the end of the year with a Christmas dinner on Dec.18 at Saint Anthony’s Church.
The San Francisco Day Labor Program (SFDLP) and La Colectiva de Mujeres (LCM) is a Mission-based program with two types of memberships that share space on César Chavez Street.
Emiliano Bourgois-Chacon, program director, explained how the program connects workers to employers while, “[providing] a space where workers can get their basic needs met by having food and shelter, and offering courses for workers in case they ever experience an employer who doesn’t want to pay or pay less than minimum wage.”
They help their 175 members—many of them undocumented, homeless and victims of domestic violence—improve their lives by connecting them with well-paying jobs.
After years of steady growth under the solid direction of Renee Saucedo, who left in July, SFDLP/LCM now uses a worker-run organizational model. For Thanksgiving this year, they published their first newsletter, “SF Labor News,” written and distributed by the workers themselves.
This year SFDLP/LCM also left its 12-year-old partner, La Raza Centro Legal, the legal aid organization for immigrants that had hosted the programs.
In October 2012, the program became part of Dolores Street Community Services (DSCS), an organization that provides services to homeless immigrants in San Francisco.
“During the holiday season it’s the hardest for everyone, especially for our community that are homeless,” said Wendy Phillips, DSCS executive director. “With the support of everyone there is reason to be thankful for our extended family … welcome to the new year and to our new community partners.”
For more information: SF Day Labor Program, (415) 252-5375, www.sfdaylabor.org; La Colectiva de Mujeres, (415) 252-5376, www.lacolectivasf.org.