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LA day laborers get recognition for their work on first 'Dia del Jornalero'

Day laborers including Rigoberto Torres, left, and staffers at the Central American Resource Center day labor center on Wilshire Boulevard near downtown L.A. celebrate
Day laborers including Rigoberto Torres, left, and staffers at the Central American Resource Center day labor center on Wilshire Boulevard near downtown L.A. celebrate "El Dia del Jornalero" on Friday, May 3, 2019. The L.A. City Council recently established the date as a day recognizing the city's day laborers, most of them immigrants, who do construction, landscaping and other jobs, often for little pay.
Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC
Leslie Berestein Rojas |

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Last month, the Los Angeles City Council declared May 3 "El Dia del Jornalero," the day of the day laborer. Council member Gil Cedillo sponsored the resolution in recognition of the mostly immigrant workers who do construction, painting, garden work - just about anything to earn a day's pay.

At a day labor center near downtown L.A. staffed by the Central American Resource Center, the workers talked about what they do and what the recognition means to them.