Big Easy leasers upset over cleanup jobs.

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Posted on Fri, Oct. 07, 2005

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Big Easy leaders upset over cleanup jobs

ADAM NOSSITER

Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS - They clear rotten seafood from stinking restaurant freezers,

wash excrement from the floors of the Superdome, rip out wads of soaked

insulation. The work is hot, nasty and critical to the recovery of New Orleans.

And yet, many of the workers are not actually from New Orleans.

Many of those engaged in the huge cleanup and reconstruction effort here -

nobody has an exact count - are immigrants, both legal and illegal, from

Mexico and Central America.

Meanwhile, as many as 80,000 New Orleanians sit idle in shelters around the

country. They are out of work, homeless and destitute.

That irks some civic and union leaders.

" I've got nothing against our Hispanic brothers, but we have a whole lot of

skilled laborers in shelters that could be doing this work, " said Oliver

, president of the City Council. " We could put a whole lot of money in

the

pockets of New Orleanians by doing this reconstruction work. "

Roman Feher, an organizer with the Laborers Union, said: " It's really a

shame. We're trying to get people back on their feet. The last thing we need is

contractors bringing people in from out of state. "

Mayor Ray Nagin added his voice to the chorus this week, telling local

business people: " How do I ensure that New Orleans is not overrun by Mexican

workers? "

At the same time, interviews with some Katrina refugees suggest New

Orleanians are in no big hurry to return for these jobs. In fact, many Katrina

refugees have been landing jobs in communities around the country.

" Other guys out here in Houston and other areas of the state, we have better

opportunities to make money here, " New Orleans truck driver Wayne Cousin

said at a refugee shelter in Houston.

The situation in New Orleans is part of a controversial pattern seen across

the country: Immigrants are often willing to do the dirty jobs many Americans

won't take.

Sen. Vitter, R-La., and Rep. Jefferson, a Democrat who

represents much of New Orleans, said they are trying to pressure federal

authorities

to ensure that government cleanup contracts use Louisiana labor. But private

companies are free to hire outsiders, and state officials say they are

powerless to do more than urge local hiring.

" Our position is, we want these businesses to hire Louisiana people first, "

said Ed Pratt, a spokesman for the Louisiana Labor Department. " If they are

hiring out-of-state Hispanics, we can't control that. "

The contractors insist they would be happy to hire locals but cite practical

difficulties.

" When so many millions have evacuated, it's kind of hard to get people to

return, " said Pete Bell, the owner of Cotton, a Houston-based disaster recovery

business that has more than 500 workers cleaning out hotels and restaurants.

On Friday, the Rev. decried the lack of local labor taking

part in the cleanup and said his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition planned to bus 600

residents from shelters around the country back to New Orleans to be matched

with

jobs and housing.

The caravan is to depart Monday from Chicago and travel to shelters in St.

Louis, Memphis, , Miss., and Mobile, Ala. It should arrive in New

Orleans on Tuesday. said residents will be housed in hotels and

trailers

and on military bases and would get help obtaining construction and service

jobs.

Labor investigators say that many of the workers in New Orleans are illegal

immigrants who are being exploited and subjected to harsh living and working

conditions.

An investigator with the Laborers Union, Duran, said that outside the

New Orleans Arena, he had encountered Mexican teenagers perhaps 15 or 16

years old who had been removing excrement-fouled carpets.

While some cleanup workers in New Orleans are staying in hotels, Duran said

the teenagers on the carpet-removal job told him they were sleeping in a

field under a tent, and had gotten bitten by mosquitoes.

Duran said the laborers had been brought in by Rainbow International

Restoration and Cleaning of Waco, Texas. A Rainbow franchise owner leading

cleanup

efforts in New Orleans, Beedle, said the workers had been brought in

by a subcontractor that was supposed to obey all laws.

Outside a French Quarter restaurant, four Hispanic workers were taking a

break from clearing 1,000 pounds of rotten shrimp from the freezer. The men,

dripping with sweat, were wearing only jeans and T-shirts.

" You can just drive down the street and see people not dressed properly, "

Feher said. He said the workers cleaning the restaurants should have worn

protective suits, rubber boots, rubber gloves and respirators.

The crew's New Jersey employer, , said he provides protective

gear for his workers as required by law, and " if I'm on the site they have to

have it on. " But he added: " I wasn't there. "

Advocates said the lack of protective gear is leading to health problems.

Alvarez, director of the Latin American Organization for Immigrant Rights

in Houston, said he recently took five or six workers to the hospital after

they complained of respiratory problems and diarrhea upon their return from

New Orleans.

---

Associated Press writer Lozano in Houston and Associated Press

Television cameraman Gordon Durnin in New Orleans contributed to this report.