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Day-Labor Worker Centers: Advancing New Models of Equity and Inclusion in the Informal Economy

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  • Nik Theodore

Abstract

Day-labor worker centers are labor market intermediaries that target their interventions to underregulated segments of residential construction and allied industries. As sites of rulemaking in the informal economy, worker centers raise standards and enforce worker protections in sectors that lie beyond the reach of government enforcement. In addition to strengthening wage floors, worker centers are now acting as “disaster recovery hubs†that can help local communities following natural disasters. As the economy was shuttered by the COVID-19 pandemic, worker centers pivoted to provide emergency assistance to unemployed workers. This paper assesses these two emerging areas of worker center activity through a survey of disaster-recovery workers in Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and a national survey of worker centers that administered emergency assistance to immigrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. These case studies reveal promising new interventions that could lead to more inclusive forms of workforce development.

Suggested Citation

  • Nik Theodore, 2023. "Day-Labor Worker Centers: Advancing New Models of Equity and Inclusion in the Informal Economy," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 37(4), pages 363-374, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:37:y:2023:i:4:p:363-374
    DOI: 10.1177/08912424231165004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nik Theodore & Abel Valenzuela & Edwin Meléndez, 2009. "Worker centers: defending labor standards for migrant workers in the informal economy," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(5), pages 422-436, August.
    2. M. Anne Visser, 2017. "A floor to exploitation? Social economy organizations at the edge of a restructuring economy," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(5), pages 782-799, October.
    3. Walter Nicholls, 2016. "Politicizing Undocumented Immigrants One Corner at a Time: How Day Laborers Became a Politically Contentious Group," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 299-320, March.
    4. Nik Theodore, 2020. "Regulating informality: Worker centers and collective action in day‐labor markets," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 144-160, March.
    5. Edwin J. Meléndez & M. Anne Visser & Nik Theodore & Abel Valenzuela Jr., 2014. "Worker Centers and Day Laborers’ Wages," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 95(3), pages 835-851, September.
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