How do day laborers work?

[AngryOldDem]

7. Here's how it works from what I've observed.

Homeless men and women are prime day laborers. In the city where I used to live, places that would recruit day laborers would tell people to meet at a certain place at a certain time (usually really, really, really early in the morning). Some would bring transportation to the shelter, but that was rare. The recruiter would then take the workers to the job site (in my city, this was some miles away at an air freight company). There, they would work -- and work hard -- upwards of 12 hours per day, or more. They would come back late at night.

I heard many stories about how they couldn't take restroom breaks, and sometimes the pay didn't come at the end of the shift. (When that happened, the anger was not disguised.) No, as far as I know, these wages weren't taxed, and I think (if I remember) they may have been just above minimum. Not enough to support hardly anybody, but it was a day's wage for a day's work.

I think both the air freight place and the recruiter exploited the living hell out of these vulnerable folks. But to me it showed just how much they all wanted to work, regardless of the conditions.