Day laborers in Gaithersburg can engage in a mini celebration.
The City Council and mayor have adopted a resolution approving a county-funded day labor site, giving the green light to an issue that’s been debated over for years.
At the special work session Thursday night, by a vote of three to one, officials said yes to transforming a storefront at the Muddy Branch Shopping Center into a go-to point for workers.
“They essentially voted to pursue a lease at that site,” said Cindy Hines, who is coordinating a revitalization effort in the historic district of Gaithersburg. “It’s a long time coming.”
Hines said officials looked at other locations in the older section of the city and considered a 100-plus page report from a special task force before settling on Muddy Branch.
The issue of day laborers in Gaithersburg reached a head last month when city police announced that they’d be cracking down on workers gathering in a parking lot next to Grace Methodist Church on Frederick Avenue. No arrests were actually made, but day workers and supporting agencies staged a well-publicized rally to draw attention to their cause.
Hines said Gaithersburg’s coming day labor center is to be modeled after Wheaton’s center, managed by the immigrant group CASA.
The county will foot the bill for the facility, but the cost of the new day labor site has not yet been determined. The annual expense for the Wheaton center is about $125,000.
The task force’s report on day labor considered five different options for getting temporary immigrant workers employment. The first and primary option was to establish a day laborer center. Other ideas included using existing employment centers and doing further research to study outside jurisdictions’ approaches.
Task force members defended the day labor center idea by arguing that providing shelter from the elements for the workers was “necessary” from a decency standpoint.
