The Oregon Minuteman were out in force on Monday, September 22, 2008, protesting the Portland Day Laborer Worker Center located on MLK Jr. Blvd and NE Everett. One of those protesting the Labor Center site said they had been there since 6:00 in the morning.
There were several people seeking employment on the site, both near the trailer and on the street, so I suspected that the dual protests might have taken its toll on their efforts to gain employment.
On inquiring about this possibility I was told that Monday's are usually slow and that the presence of the Minuteman may not be having much of an effect.
I was hoping to get some interviews with both sides, the Minutemen as well as those showing up to counter protest their presence at the site, but the Protesters refused to comment on camera.
Those who where there protesting the presence of the Minutemen were more forthcoming. One stated that he was there "to support the Day Laborers Center and the day laborers. I think that they are a real contribution to the Portland Community, and supporting day laborers is a way to support all American workers. It's not against American workers to have day laborer centers, it's for them; if we don't support the people at the very bottom of the work chain, then the top of the work chain isn't going to get any better either."
A few minutes earlier I heard one of the Minutemen stating that if these folks were truly looking for work they should be looking through more conventional, acceptable channels, denigrating the existence of these Day Laborer Centers. I asked one of the counter protesters his response to that point and he stated that "having a center is just a way of protecting both the employers and the employees. If they don't have a central place then people are going to take advantage of them much more. They have to have a place where they can come out of the rain, have a place to get work in a decent way. Standing on a street corner asking for work is not a dignified way to get work. We need to support the dignity of American workers, and the Day Laborer Center is doing that."
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