2007年VOA标准英语-Montgomery County Opens Controversial Day Labor

By Jeffrey Young
Washington
22 May 2007
 

To most Americans, the governments in their towns and regional areas called counties are the governments they interact with the most.  And alongside these local governments are groups of citizens who work on their own to make life better.

In this segment of a multi-part series, VOA's Jeffrey Young highlights the creation of a labor¹ center in Montgomery County, Maryland intended to get jobseekers off the streets.

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Day laborers wait in the parking lot for potential employers

Looking for work is tough -- even tougher if you are a recent immigrant with limited skills. But people in Montgomery County have found a controversial solution.

Montgomery County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C., has exploded with growth in recent years. The strong local economy has created jobs in the construction industry and elsewhere. 

Matching available jobs with day workers in the Montgomery County city of Gaithersburg started out on street corners and in parking lots.  Many of the laborers immigrated⁴ from Mexico and Central America. 

But these informal labor markets caused problems and divided the community.  The solution was a designated day labor center where workers and employers could meet.  The labor center issue was a hot topic for nearly three years before it was decided⁵ upon, with public hearings and other meetings marked by strong feelings both for and against it.

Gaithersburg City Councilman Henry Marraffa voiced an opinion common among many of the labor center's opponents. "Number one, when you have a labor center, you have a number of people hanging around who are here [in the United States] illegally. I think the labor center has created a 'destination spot.' And [as a result] we have more illegal immigrants coming to our area."

When the city of Gaithersburg decided that it would not have a day labor center within its boundaries, Montgomery County stepped in and took over the project. 

The county created a partnership⁶ with an immigrant advocacy group called CASA to run the new facility. CASA member Fernando Geravito manages the labor center. He explains why having it is much better than hiring people on street corners. "One [first], it is a secure place for workers to come, and for employers to also come and get the workers. They [employers] are going to get reliable workers. We establish a communication between employers and employees.”

Geravito says that when employers come to the center, they fill out a form listing the kind of workers they need, such as construction laborers, landscapers and restaurant help. Then the center matches its available workers with the employer's needs, such as what Freddy Fuentes is looking for. "I need somebody who knows how to do drywall,” he said.

Sometimes, several people may be interviewed before the employer finds workers that can do the job to his satisfaction.

By coming to the center, employers must agree to pay wages no less than a certain amount, and to pay their workers on time.  And if the employer is slow to pay those workers, the center will collect their wages for them.

Montgomery County spokesman Patrick Lacefield says this labor center is not just a place to find work. He says it is also a step in the integration⁷ of these workers and their families into the broader community. "Being a day laborer² is not an occupation with a future. We would like to give people the opportunity to look for work.  But let's also engage them [the laborers]  -- teach them English [and] get them involved with job training so they can work their way into the formal economy and out of the informal economy."

The controversy⁸ surrounding the creation of the Day Labor Center did not end with its opening.  There are opponents who still believe the center encourages illegal immigration and is a blight⁹ to the community. But Montgomery County has made it clear that the labor center will stay open, and that more like it may follow.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 laborer   

n.劳动者，劳工

参考例句：

• Her husband had been a farm laborer.她丈夫以前是个农场雇工。
• He worked as a casual laborer and did not earn much.他当临时工，没有赚多少钱。

3 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

4 immigrated   

v.移入( immigrate的过去式和过去分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• He immigrated from Ulster in 1848. 他1848年从阿尔斯特移民到这里。 来自辞典例句
• Many Pakistanis have immigrated to Britain. 许多巴基斯坦人移居到了英国。 来自辞典例句

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

7 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

8 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

9 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。