Hard times for day laborers
It is well past noon on a recent weekday and Jaime Armando has finally concluded that, for the fourth day in a row, he likely won't find any work. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
"A year ago, I was working four and five days a week, but this year it's been more like one day in five," says Armando, a 19-year-old Guatemalan immigrant who daily hangs out along Vanowen Street and Canoga Avenue with other day laborers looking for work.
"But that means that tomorrow ... tomorrow, I should get work."
Welcome to the life of day laborers in the San Fernando Valley, caught in the grip of an economic downturn that arguably takes the worst toll on those on the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder.