CHICAGO—Any other Labor Day, this sleepy residential neighborhood on Chicago’s Northwest Side would be bustling with late-summer picnics and volleyball games. But on this rainswept holiday, the only Albany Park residents spending time at Gompers Park are a hardened group of jornaleros, mostly immigrant day laborers, and a handful of supportive neighbors. The workers are gathered, as they are every… return to article
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Reader Comments (3)Page 1 of 1 pagesDear Editors,
I found your recent article on the day laborers in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago to be lacking. I have five years of knowledge of the situation. Yes, these day laborers have moved from place to place. They were moved to the bus turn-around from the Salvation Army on a temporary basis. The workers were moved because the office space inside the Salvation Army did not become a reality and customers at the adjacent strip mall were being harassed by the workers.
It seems that you spoke to only the day laborers. You also don’t mention that they are at the mercy of the contractors who can fail to pay them what had been agreed to initially and which is another side of this issue. You also fail to state why the former bus turn-around site was closed (Gompers Park construction) and that this was a temporary, etc.
Chris Wright, Chicago
Posted by Chris Wright on Sep 19, 2003 at 6:51 PM Nice fake picture you’re painting. A majority of these day laborers sit around drinking beer and smoking weed in the park. They harrass children on the way to school and try to jump in trucks and SUVs that look like they might be work. I personally have been harrassed as a woman being followed by day laborers yelling Yo Quiero (I want). A passerby jumped out of their car to help me once because day laborers started a fight in front of me walking with my newborn in a stroller. This is the reality that our neighborhood is dealing with.
Posted by Kim Ling on Nov 5, 2003 at 12:44 PM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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Posted by twetr on Sep 30, 2003 at 4:06 AM 
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