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November 4, 2013

Day Laborers Rally for Immigration Reform, Workplace Safety 
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In New York City, day laborers and their allies gathered Sunday to call
for immigration reform and to highlight the role of immigrant workers in
the recovery effort after Superstorm Sandy, just over one year ago. The
workers rallied in Foley Square to call for relief from deportation for
workers who helped rebuild the city. The protest came on the heels of a
New York Daily News report showing 74 percent of construction workers
who die on the job are Latinos, even though census figures show Latinos
account for just 41 percent of such workers. Pablo Alvarado of the
National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said safety for relief workers
is a key demand.

Pablo Alvarado: "After a natural disaster, workers need to be protected
FEMA comes in and brings relief to homeowners people who are affected.
But workers rights people who go in, the first responders, the people
who go in an take out the contaminated water they don't receive a glove
or a helmet that needs to change."