BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF THE POMONA ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY CENTER (PEOC)

Mission
The PEOC’s mission as a non-profit day labor organization is to facilitate a safe and just day laborer employment, while providing various educational and referral services catered to the needs and interests of the laborers. As a 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt charitable purpose organization, the Center’s main interests lie in providing quality and efficient services to the local day labor population, which tends to be poor, immigrant, unemployed or underemployed laborers, who oftentimes are non-English speaking.

Day Labor in Pomona
The City of Pomona, like other cities in Southern California and across the nation, has the challenge of assisting people seeking temporary employment. For a host of reasons, ranging from downsizing and layoffs to lack of education and professional skills, day labor is an option of last resort for individuals looking to support themselves and their families. Day labor is one last option many people have before opting to public assistance for their upkeep and well-being.

The City of Pomona has been key in the establishment and development of the Center. After passing City Ordinance sections 19.1-1 through 19.1-7, in late 1997, Pomona decided to model a manageable regulatory policy regarding day labor within city limits. The ordinance sections describe the City’s policy on the solicitation of informal employment, as well as employment of day laborers. The violation penalty prescribed by the enforcement section of the ordinance prescribes a penalty of up to one thousand dollars, imprisonment for one month in the county jail, or both. Also included in the day labor regulation chapter is reference to a day labor center. With the work of community activists, among them day laborers and students, civic leaders, and the support of City officials, the PEOC came into existence in early 1998 in a collective effort to provide for the City’s day labor needs.

Various civic and community leaders, after the passage of the ordinance, worked together to design a plan under which the enforcement of the law could best be managed. It was decided that the establishment and initial endowment of a City-endorsed day labor center was the best course of action. Previous to the establishment of a day labor center, day laborers and employers alike faced potential safety hazards and misunderstandings; after the center was formed, workers and employers could be paired in a safe and just manner. Local contractors and homeowners benefit from the stable purveyance of skilled and unskilled labor and day laborers acquire the employment they seek—creating a win-win situation for all involved, thanks to the City’s willingness to collaborate with invested community leaders.

Program
In the 2003-04 fiscal year, the PEOC reached new heights in programmatic and organizational development. Thanks to the increased financial support of the City in FY 2003-04, the Center was able to relocate to a more desirable location, hire additional staff, and subsequently provide greater and improved services to day laborers and the community. Both attendance at the Center and employment rates increased significantly over the 2003-04 fiscal year, nearly 160% and over 250%, respectively. The PEOC served an average of 60 workers daily, with an approximate range of 40 attendees on Sundays to over 100 attendees on the busiest days during the workweek. Employment dispatch varies significantly, primarily due to outside variables such as climate changes and related construction cycle changes. On average, 30 laborers are placed daily; the range of dispatch runs from 20 jobs to, in one record-breaking case, 85 day laborers placed for employment in one day.

In addition to the employment services, the Center has expanded in other ways. Operating hours were extended, from 36 hours over six days with one employee to 56 hours over seven days with three employees. This increase in operational hours, paired with increased staff coverage, accounts for the favorable increase in effectiveness at the PEOC. A $10,000 grant the PEOC received from the California Foundation facilitated the initial development of a health education and outreach programs to the day laborers, put into action through collaboration of a part time day laborer health coordinator and volunteer Pitzer College intern. This primary phase of the health program resulted in approximately one dozen health presentations on a wide variety of preventative health topics, a carwash fundraiser raising over $500 in funds for an uninsured injured day laborer, the establishment of a day labor soccer team, and a free clinic where day laborers were given physical exams and clinic referrals.

The PEOC’s partnership with student volunteers from the Claremont Colleges continued to grow and develop from previous years. Some example collaborations include the painting of a mural by renowned East L.A. muralist Paul Botello with the labor and design input of students and day laborers, weekly ESL instruction assistance, participation in labor and immigrant rights rallies and marches, and various holiday celebrations. One program highlight for the year was weekly lunchtime excursions to Pitzer College, where day laborers inverted the usual system of being taught English, and instead taught useful Spanish to Claremont Colleges students.

Another collaboration of note in the past fiscal year has been developed with the Adult School of the Pomona Unified School District. The District has placed a part time instructor at the Center to provide English as a Second Language (ESL) classes to the day laborers for four hours daily during the work week. Over the span of the program to date, 59 students have accumulated over 5,200 hours of instruction time. Student volunteers and interns from the Claremont Colleges provide supplementary instruction to the laborers over the week, providing for a variety of learning styles being addressed through various instructors. Fortuitously, the PUSD instructor also teaches an evening ESL class at Marshall Middle School, so when the workers could not make his morning sessions, many opted to attend the evening classes with the same teacher.