How To LA – Day Laborers And The Odd, Sometimes Dangerous Jobs They Do

#204: You’ve probably seen jornaleros – or day laborers – as you drive to work. They might be looking for gigs outside of home improvement stores or moving services, or even a random donut shop.

There are estimates of 35,000 day laborers working in Los Angeles. The work they get hired to do often includes things like moving furniture, cleaning debris or helping with small construction projects. But sometimes the work can be dangerous and even illegal. Most have no idea what the work really is until they get the to the job site.

Today, How To LA host Brian De Los Santos speaks to LA Times reporter Brittny Mejia about the sometimes precarious tasks jornaleros do — and how going through a job center may protect them. Brittny recently published this story (https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-11-29/after-day-laborers-dump-body-parts-workers-reflect-on-odd-jobs).

Guest: Brittny Mejia, Metro reporter at the Los Angeles Times

On December 18, 2023 By Evelyn Bell

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