While day laborers can earn more on U.S. streets than they can back home, life here is still fraught with risk – of work related injury, unpaid wages, and days or weeks without a job. To address these concerns, many communities are creating day labor centers. These can range from simple hiring halls, to training and social service hubs. Opening day labor centers, however, is difficult. Besides the challenges of establishing trust with the workers, employers, and neighbors, many people fundamentally oppose funding services for undocumented workers at all. KALW’s Melanie Young reports on the day laborers of Hayward.
Each month over 24 thousand detained immigrants have their day in court. Nationwide, that's a 4 percent increase from last years monthly average. But a lack of resources in immigration courts are backlogging cases, and that makes the process of becoming an American citizen take a lot longer. Reporter Abbie Swanson has the story.
Every year about 5,000 Chinese immigrants arrive in San Francisco in search of a better life. For many, the first stop on their journey is Chinatown. With its network of social service organizations and familiar culture and language, the neighborhood is a natural destination for new arrivals. But life in the neighborhood can be very hard, in part because of the housing there. Two thirds of the housing units in Chinatown are SROs or single room occupancy hotels.
The current economic crisis has made getting out of Chinatown even tougher.
KALW's Melanie Young spent time with a recent immigrant living in a Chinatown SRO.
The Tenderloin is changing. On the edges of the neighborhood new luxury condos are being built. The founder of a community group is struggling to bring in more of what she calls "positive" businesses. And, for better or worse, many of the old jazz clubs and gay bars are closing. These are the latest changes to one of the SF's oldest districts. Back in the 19th century the Tenderloin was known as St. Anne's Valley. And in the 20th Century, as Kate Golden reports, much of the history of the Tenderloin has been dictated by one dominant feature of its architecture: residential hotels.
As you go shopping this holiday season you may be paying more attention than usual to the price tags. But this year it's "bargain hunter beware." Regulations which ban potentially hazardous materials in toys go into effect in 2009. And some manufacturers who used these chemicals are taking this shopping season to sell off their inventory at cut rates. It's just about impossible to tell what's in the Christmas presents we buy, but a San Francisco company, GoodGuide is trying to change that. KALW's Nathanael Johnson went shopping with Dara O'Rourke, the CEO of GoodGuide and has this story.
While day laborers can earn more on U.S. streets than they can back home, life here is still fraught with risk – of work related injury, unpaid wages, and days or weeks without a job. To address these concerns, many communities are creating day labor centers. These can range from simple hiring halls, to training and social service hubs. Opening day labor centers, however, is difficult. Besides the challenges of establishing trust with the workers, employers, and neighbors, many people fundamentally oppose funding services for undocumented workers at all. KALW’s Melanie Young reports on the day laborers of Hayward.
