#day workers

“Make A Wish (Bronx Slave Market, 170th Street),” 1938.

The people in this photo are at the so-called Bronx Slave Market, a place where African-Americans would wait for white people to choose workers for day-long jobs. Later, the city created an official Day-Work Office for the area.

The Smithsonian notes on its website that the photo “resists condescension by capturing the lighter mood created by the people awaiting work: the standing woman smiles as she looks ahead; the man seems to join her, smiling in her general direction; and the seated woman is immersed in her paper, perhaps scanning the listings for a job."

A group of longshoremen walk to work on a dock while others stand around hoping they will be as lucky. Cunard Line Pier, 1946. These were “day workers,” chosen each morning.

Labor Day: History as well as origin of the Day

Labor Day 2020: History of Labor Day

Labor Day is a government holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement as well as the works and contributions of workers to the development and accomplishments of the USA.

Starting in the late 19th century, as the trade union and labor movements expanded, trade unionists proposed…

Cardboard Street Art Documents the Undocumented [UPDATED]

There is a simple elegant statement in the cardboard illustrations by 25-year-old street artist Ramiro Gomez Jr., the day worker and former art student who installs painted images of Latino laborers in the same neighborhoods that hire them.