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GUESTS: Nelson Motto, lead organizer with IDEPSCA (Institute of Popular Education of Southern California), Marco Amador, Regional Organizer with NDLON (National Day Laborer Organizing Network)

Last week the driver and passenger of a White Ford Explorer reportedly picked up 6 day laborers in Rancho Cucamonga with promises of a job. The workers were apparently tied up and driven to Tijuana, Mexico where they were dumped. There has been little to no media coverage of the incident. The kidnapping comes on the heels of the death of 57 year old Jose Fernando Pedraza, a day laborer who was killed in a traffic accident during a demonstration by members of the Minute Man Project. The accident took place on the corner of Arrow Highway and Grove Avenue, the site where many workers gather to find cash jobs. There had been a city sponsored day labor center on the corner which closed last year when the non-profit group that staffed it withdrew. The city apparently has no plans to reopen the center. The late Pedraza was a leader of a group of day laborers who was working to help establish a community work center in the city. His friends and supporters claim that the accident that killed him could have been avoided if the city had created a safe space for day laborers.

There will be a Rancho Cucamonga City Council Meeting on Wednesday May 16th, 7pm which day laborers and their advocates will be attending. There will be a press conference at 6 pm prior to the meeting outside the meeting place. The meeting will take place at Rancho Cucamonga Civic Center, 10500 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730

Also, on Saturday May 19th, Rancho Cucamonga day laborers are inviting supporters to join them on the corner of Grove St. and Arrow Hwy in Rancho Cucamonga for a “Day with a Day Laborer” from 9am to Noon. Day laborers are asking for those attending in solidarity with them to check in with them regarding tactics. The Minute Man Project are also expected to counter-demonstrate.