How do day laborers work?

[DreamGypsy]

29. Thirsting for Justice - Vayan al Norte

Eliza Gilkyson plays Vayan al Norte at the Vigil & Hunger/Thirst Strike for Justice in Austin, organized by the Workers Defense Project/ Proyecto Defensa Laboral.We (The Workers Defense Project) are asking City Council to pass an ordinance to guarantee construction workers the right to rest breaks and clean drinking water. Last summer in Austin, Jeffrey Louis Willenborg died from heat exhaustion after working several days in construction. "These deaths are absolutely preventable, there is no reason why we should have anyone working under these types of conditions,"

We never ask for a handout
Or more than our fair share of pay
Downtown you all know where we stand out
Looking for work by the day
You don’t ask why our farms were abandoned
Or of our choice between vida y muerte
Or why we would take such a gamble
por las esperanzas del Norte

Vayan al Norte, vayan al Norte...
From Oaxaca to El Paradero
Survival our deepest desire
From the barbed wire de La Frontera
From the frying pan into the fire
Laying low como ladrones
En una tierra de puertas cerradas
Aun podemos escuchar las voces
De nuestros perdidos amados

Vayan al Norte
(Go North)
We never ask for a handout
Or more than our fair share of pay
Downtown you all know where we stand
Out looking for work by the day
You don’t ask why our farms were abandoned
Or of our choice between life and death
Or why we would take such a gamble
For the high hopes of El Norte
Go north, go north
From Oaxaca to El Paradero
Survival our deepest desire
From the barbed wire of the Border
From the frying pan into the fire
Laying low like thieves
In a land of closed doors
We can still hear the voices of our lost loved ones
Go north go north
Say goodbye, leave now
Cross the river, dear ones, don’t cry
Go with God
And go north
They wake us up in mid-sleep
The faces of our old ones
Waving with their tired hands
For the last time, goodbye
Now we will never go back
And we pass through your world like shadows
But we are building a new life
Here in the lands of the north
Go north go north
Say goodbye, leave now
Cross the river, dear ones, don’t cry
Go with God
Go north
Cross the river
Sing, don’t cry,
Go with God,
Go north